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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28449816">Why Not Make Some Waves Before It’s Through</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlooksomethingshiny/pseuds/ohlooksomethingshiny'>ohlooksomethingshiny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Biphobia, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Minor Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Ozai bringing his firelord intensity to his new role as PTA president, Starring Sokka as Emma and Zuko as Alyssa, The Prom AU, all my homies hate the prom movie, based on the musical NOT the movie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:21:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28449816</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlooksomethingshiny/pseuds/ohlooksomethingshiny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sokka just wants to take his boyfriend to prom. Is that too much to ask?</p><p> <br/>(Or: The entirely self indulgent The Prom AU nobody asked for)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>174</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The stupid article was everywhere. </p><p>Must have been a slow news day because some asshole writer named Zhao had decided that he should write an article about how the existence of the Avatar was pointless and how “society had simply progressed beyond the need for an Avatar.” </p><p>And now it was all Aang saw anytime he got online. </p><p>Sure, there were many people responding in support, mentioning convenient details like, hey that’s a 14 year old kid you’re talking about who isn’t even a fully realized avatar yet. And yes, he mastered air bending and had some success with the other 3 elements but still he had a long way to go before he was ready. Not to mention all the political nonsense that he had to learn to deal with before he could really and truly make a difference. Of course he was trying, he gave speeches and made appearances but avatar or not, most of the world’s leaders didn’t really want to listen to a 14 year old kid. The responses may not have been glowing tales of his heroics, but honestly, Aang was just glad to see any positive thoughts.</p><p>But, there were still far too many people agreeing with what the article said in Aang’s own humble opinion. And way too many people with personal attacks towards Aang, his culture, and even Appa got a hate message or two. Not that Aang tried to make a habit of listening to the opinions of people who decided to spend their time cyber bullying a sky bison but when he started reading he just couldn’t stop.</p><p>All in all, this was not one of the better days to be the Avatar. I mean who wouldn’t love to see half of the internet’s users arguing about whether or not there was a point to your entire existence and whether or not you were already failing at the job that you had been training your whole life to do when you’ve already given up every chance that you had to have a normal childhood because some spirits decided that one element wasn’t enough, oh no, you were going to get FOUR and now you had all this responsibility that you never asked for but were somehow already crumbling under the pressure of.</p><p>Clearly, Aang was totally okay and not spiraling at all. </p><p>He received a brief distraction from his own thoughts in the form of Toph sprawling on the couch next to him and propping her feet in his lap, effectively blocking his view of the Tweet he was currently reading. </p><p>“I may be blind, Twinkle Toes, but even I can see that this is getting to you” she said. </p><p>“Of course this is getting to me! How would you feel if you were reading opinions from half the world who think you suck?”</p><p>“Well first of all, I can’t read so…” she trailed off.</p><p>“Ah right, I’m sorry. It’s just, I never wanted to be the Avatar. I didn’t ask for any of this. It’s like someone just decided that I would get all this power and responsibility but really suck at it.”</p><p>“I didn’t choose to be the greatest earthbender in the world but, we all have our struggles” Toph shrugged. “Besides, you don’t suck, you’re 14 and you haven’t really had a chance to do Avatar things yet.”</p><p>Aang gasped, “Toph, you’re a genius!”</p><p>“Yes I know, but why specifically?”</p><p>“I just need to find an Avatar thing to do! Then I can prove that I’m not useless! Let’s see if we can find a problem that I can solve…”</p><p>“You could solve world hunger?”</p><p>“Yes! ...No, that seems a little too big right now. But definitely on my list of things to do!”</p><p>“I don’t know, Twinkle Toes, you’re the one spending all that time online, have you seen any news articles about, I don’t know, maybe a cat caught in a tree? That’s something heroes do, right?</p><p>“Good Idea!” Aang happily returned to his scrolling, ignoring anything he saw that mentioned himself. Then, he saw it. About 100 tweets down, a news story that caught his eye.</p><p>“Toph!” Aang gasped, “have you seen this?”</p><p>“I haven’t seen anything, ever.” Toph grinned. </p><p>“Wow, every time…” He groaned,  “Listen, It’s a story about a 17 year old boy in some small town who wanted to take his boyfriend to the prom, but the parents at the school wouldn’t let him. This is great! ...Well probably not great for him. But we can fix it! We just have to go down there and convince them to let him go to the prom with his boyfriend! I’m the avatar, how could they say no?”</p><p>“I have to say, I like the idea of getting to throw rocks at some homophobes.”</p><p>“Well hopefully we won’t have to. But I think this could work! We can take Appa! We already do most of our school stuff online so that won’t be a problem, and we could just say we took a field trip to somewhere with good rocks to practice earth bending if anyone asks where we went! Oh wow, should we really do this?”</p><p>“Hell yes! Let’s go cause some chaos! And rid the world of the cancer that is intolerance! By hitting assholes with rocks!” She bent a small rock towards Aang to demonstrate.</p><p>“...We can talk about the details on the way.”</p><p>___________________</p><p> </p><p>Sokka plopped down into a seat next to his sister in the cafeteria. He simply said, “Fuck me” before dropping his forehead onto the table with a thud. </p><p>Katara and Suki continued eating. This exact scenario played out at their lunch table at least twice a week. Sokka coming out to the entire school had only exacerbated his dramatic tendencies. As Sokka always said, it is his spirits-given, bisexual right to be dramatic at all times. And now with all the nonsense surrounding the prom, the bruised foreheads only became more common. </p><p>“Wow. My own sister and my best friend cannot even comfort me in my moment of distress.” Sokka grumbled, never lifting his head from the table.</p><p>“Oh sorry” Suki said through her mouthful of Cheetos, “Didn’t realize that these were ‘I want to talk about it’ actions. What’s up?”</p><p>“Principal Iroh just told me, ‘oh you know how the PTA decided to ban you from the prom for daring to not be straight? Yes, well, now some very important attorney people have gotten involved and they say that the school can’t do that and that they think this is a human rights violation and now the PTA is saying they’re just going to cancel prom all together if they have to have the scandalous bisexual student there.’ So, not only did I ruin prom for myself by opening my big mouth, but now I’ve probably ruined prom for everyone.”</p><p>Suki and Katara both just stared at him, looking torn between giving him a hug or just straight up murdering the entire Parent Teacher Association of Kiyoshi High School. </p><p>Katara spoke up first, “What the hell?! Can they do that?! Ugh, as if you haven’t had enough trouble from jerks at this school since you came out…”</p><p>“Yeah thanks for reminding me. And now that I’ve ruined prom by telling Azula of all people that I was going to bring my boyfriend. That was so stupid!”</p><p>“That wasn’t your fault!” Suki argued, “Azula just likes to cause problems, you know this!”</p><p>“Right! When I went to buy my prom ticket, she was like, ‘oh no date I assume?’ And I said, ‘why would you assume that?’ And she said, ‘Because you’re gay now?’ And I was like ‘I’m not gay I’m bisexual.’ And then she said, ‘It's no wonder I couldn’t find a girl to go with me’ and I was all, ‘Who says my date is a girl’… And you both know this story already, sorry.” Sokka cut himself off. </p><p>“It's okay, Sokka. Azula always knows exactly what to say to rile people up. I probably would have done the same thing.” Katara said, patting his shoulder. “And personally, I can’t wait until she learns who your date is.”</p><p>“So… about this mystery boy…” Suki started, “When do I get to know who he is? I’m dying, dude! Katara gets to know and I feel very left out!”</p><p>Sokka sighed, “Well Katara knows because she never learned how to knock and she’s seen some shit. And you know that the plan was that we’d go to prom together and he would come out publicly then. But now I’ve ruined prom so who knows. His family doesn’t know and I don’t want to tell anyone before he’s ready…”</p><p>“Fuck, Sokka, this whole situation sucks.” Suki placed her hand over his on the table. “I know I’ve already said it but I’m so sorry you have to deal with all this crap. No matter what Katara and I have your back. Prom or no Prom. Besides, the two of us<br/>
are only sophomores so we don’t give a shit that prom is cancelled. We couldn’t go anyway.”</p><p>Sokka smiled sadly. “Yeah. Thanks. Believe me, I am very glad to have you guys.” </p><p>Katara, however, looked like she was still a few minutes away from hunting the members of the PTA for sport. “So what now? There has to be something that we can do! We could… make a petition or something! We could make signs and show up at a PTA meeting! We can fight this!”</p><p>“Yeah, Katara could literally fight this if you wanted… I’m sure those PTA assholes would be no match for a teenage waterbender who is always full of rage!” Suki said, gesturing towards Katara across the table. “That would make for a pretty interesting meeting.” </p><p>Sokka groaned. “Speaking of PTA meetings, Principal Iroh asked me to come to the one this afternoon. Maybe he thinks that they won’t be as big of assholes to my face but, you know who the president of the PTA is. I don’t have much hope. Principal Iroh also asked if I would say something but, you know me and public speaking… I’ll probably make the whole situation worse.”</p><p>“What if we went to the meeting with you?” Katara offered. </p><p>“You don’t have to do that”</p><p>“Shut up, Sokka. We’re going.” Suki stated, effectively silencing any argument Sokka could make. </p><p>“I don’t deserve you guys. Thank you.” With that, Sokka finally pulled his lunch out of his backpack and started eating his sandwich. Conversation topics for the rest of lunch ranged from Suki half jokingly trying to guess the identity of Sokka’s mystery boyfriend (“No, Suki, It's not Haru. Have you seen his new stupid little mustache? I have better taste than that, thanks.”), to Katara’s new waterbending instructor, the sexist asshole, to how Cheetos were a superior chip compared to Doritos. </p><p>When the bell rang to dismiss them from lunch, Katara jumped up and took off to her next class, conveniently located on the opposite side of the school. As she left, she called behind her, “I’ll see you guys at the meeting!”</p><p>Suki hung back with Sokka for a moment. </p><p>“Hey,” She said, “I know this sucks, but we’ll get through it.” She grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll see you at practice later and we’ll go to the meeting together, alright?”</p><p>Sokka just nodded. Suki gave him a small smile before letting go of his hand and leaving for her own class. </p><p>Sokka stood in the cafeteria for another moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Then he grabbed his backpack and took off towards his math class.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello and welcome to my first fic since like 2014!</p><p>Shout out to Sydney who instigated this and also came up with the title. You’re thebomb.com</p><p>Until Next time,</p><p>Mal</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The boy’s locker room was a terrible place. And being out as a guy attracted to other guys certainly made it worse. Sokka grabbed what he needed from his locker and turned around, only to make awkward eye contact with another guy as he pulled off his shirt. “What the fuck, man? Quit watching me change! Perv.” He said, grabbing his things and storming away. Sokka rolled his eyes. This was far from the first time something like this had happened. Guys always seemed to assume that he was creeping on them just because he happened to be bisexual. Unfortunately, Sokka was happily taken and, if you asked him, none of these boys had anything on his boyfriend. (Too bad his boyfriend was on the cross country team which practiced in the mornings so it wasn’t like Sokka could creep on him either.)</p><p>Sokka was just finishing changing for wrestling practice when Jet walked over. How exactly the two of them ended up being the last two in the room, he wasn’t sure. Typically, Sokka did everything in his power to avoid having to talk to Jet, but it was as if he knew Sokka was having a spectacularly shitty day and decided to make it his personal mission to make it worse. </p><p>“So, Sokka,” He said, swinging one leg over the bench between the lockers and straddling it like a horse. “The people want to know, who is this mystery boyfriend of yours? We’re starting to think he doesn’t really exist.”</p><p>Sokka slammed his locker shut and rolled his eyes. “He exists, asshole, you just don’t know him. He’s… new here.” He all but physically facepalmed and cursed his inability to come up with a decent excuse. The best he could do is he’s new here? Nice one, Sokka. </p><p>“Hmm… interesting” Jet definitely did not believe a single word. “You know, it makes sense. After Suki dumped you in the 8th grade, you couldn’t get another girl. So now you’ve switched to guys. And made up guys at that.”</p><p>“Once again, that’s not how it works. There was no ‘switching to guys.’ I like both, idiot. And at least I know how to treat the people I date and we can stay friends, unlike you.” </p><p>Jet stood up quickly and stomped over to Sokka and gave his chest a hard shove. “It’s not my fault your sister’s fucking crazy!”</p><p>Sokka shoved him right back. “How about you leave my sister out of this, jackass!” </p><p>Before he had a chance to introduce his fist to Jet’s face, a scrawny freshman kid burst into the locker room looking nervous. “Um. Sokka, Jet. Coach Piandao sent me to find you. You guys are late for practice and he wanted me to tell you that you’re going to have to run laps. Um. Sorry.” Sokka groaned and the kid turned around and practically ran back out the door. It seemed Sokka’s shitty day only got shittier. </p><p>___________________</p><p> </p><p>Sokka sort of wondered what the point of even showing up to wrestling practice anymore was. Since he came out as bi, the other guys on the team refused to practice with him. But he wasn’t about to let them make him quit. He was a damn good wrestler and at least when the guys and the girls teams practiced together he got to hang out with Suki. And that is what Sokka found himself doing at this particular practice, after finishing his laps of course (faster than Jet did, thank you very much). The two were sitting on the bleachers watching the rest of the team practice. Maybe Piandao knew about Sokka’s PTA meeting dilemma because he didn’t make the two do push ups or run laps like he usually would have when he saw them slacking off. </p><p>Sokka was immensely grateful for this as he had important things to discuss with Suki. Most importantly, “Suki what the hell do I even say at this meeting? ‘Hello you don't know me but you all hate me because I’m not straight but will you pretty please allow me to gay up your perfect little small town prom?”</p><p>“Well let's definitely not go with that…”</p><p>“I don’t know if I can do it. Is going to the high school prom really worth all of this?”</p><p>Suki threw her arm over his shoulder. “Honestly, Sokka, I don’t think this is just about the prom. I don’t know if it ever was. This is a chance for you to stand up and say ‘this is who I am and I just want to be treated like a normal high schooler regardless of who I may love’ and I really respect you for standing up for yourself. It may not feel like it but I bet you’re an inspiration to other people at our school that aren’t quite ready to come out yet. And I think your mystery man is probably proud of you too.”</p><p>“Thanks, Suki” Sokka smiled and swung his arm around her back. “I still don’t know what I’m going to say though.”</p><p>“You’ll figure it out. I have total faith in you.”</p><p>“That makes one of us.”</p><p>“Spirits, Sokka, must you ruin everything?”</p><p>He grinned. “It’s a gift” </p><p>___________________</p><p> </p><p>The dreaded PTA meeting was happening in the cafeteria about half an hour after practice ended. Sokka changed back to his regular clothes more slowly than he ever had before. Maybe if he just stayed in his underwear they couldn’t make him attend the meeting. He also debated the benefits of faking his own death and fleeing the country to start a new life. Unfortunately, his mind kept going back to the conversation he had with Suki in the gym. This had grown bigger than just the prom. And unbeknownst to Sokka, this was beginning to grow even bigger than Kiyoshi High School. </p><p>Sokka eventually did get dressed and found Suki standing outside the boy’s locker room. His nerves must have been showing on his face or maybe Suki just knew him well enough to know exactly how he was feeling because she offered him a reassuring smile. </p><p>Katara eventually joined them, hair still wet from her swim practice. Sokka was too nervous to even tease her about how she was cheating by being a waterbender on the swim team like he usually would have. Just like Suki, Katara managed to tell how Sokka was feeling. She grabbed his hand and gave him what she hoped was a nice, comforting squeeze before the three began to walk towards the cafeteria.</p><p>It was somehow both the longest and shortest walk of Sokka’s 17 years of life. When the trio arrived, Principal Iroh was waiting outside the meeting. </p><p>“Good afternoon, I am glad that you could make it.” He said. “You young ladies can go ahead and go inside to find a place to sit. I wish to talk to Sokka here for a moment.”</p><p>Both Katara and Suki gave Sokka a quick hug for luck before leaving him with Iroh.</p><p>“Sokka, How are you feeling about everything?”</p><p>“Um… not great. But I guess I could be worse?”</p><p>Iroh nodded. “That is understandable. It is incredibly hard to swim against the current and that is exactly what you are doing here. Now, I am sure that you at least know of the current PTA president?”</p><p>“Ozai,” Sokka practically sneered. He had never met the man but he had heard plenty about him. </p><p>“Yes. And I must warn you. He will not go easy on you just because you are not yet an adult. I do wish that you did not have to be involved in this mess but I do hope that maybe seeing you here could make some of the PTA members rethink their positions. But do know that if at any point it becomes too much you are free to leave at any time. Again, I am terribly sorry that you are mixed up in all of this but remember, it is only during our darkest moments that we can truly discover the light we have inside.”</p><p>“Well let’s get this dark moment over with then.”</p><p>“That’s the spirit!” Iroh said. “Now, I’d like for you to sit up front with me if you feel comfortable doing so.” </p><p>Sokka’s eyes widened. “Up front? Oh… uh okay I guess I can do that”</p><p>“Marvelous. Feel free to take a moment out here to take some deep breaths and collect your thoughts and then come in when you’re ready.” With that, Iroh turned around and walked into the cafeteria leaving Sokka by himself. </p><p>Sokka did what he was told. He took a few deep breaths and tried to still his shaking hands before walking into the cafeteria himself. </p><p>___________________</p><p> </p><p>Ozai seemed to take his role as PTA president far too seriously. The man acted like he was the ruler of a small country and he was about to execute a traitor. Sokka would have thought that he was absolutely insane even if he wasn’t the traitor in question. </p><p>Ozai began the meeting from what could only be described as a throne. He had somehow found a large, ornate chair and had set it up front and center while Sokka and Principal Iroh sat at a table off to his left. </p><p>“Good Afternoon, Everyone,” He began. “A week ago it came to our attention that a student was planning on bringing a date of the same gender to the prom. This PTA prides ourselves in standing for family values and thus does not condone this young man’s life choices.” There was a murmur of agreement from the parents. Sokka grit his teeth and made eye contact with Suki and Katara who gave him reassuring smiles. Ozai continued. “We were told we could not ban this student from attending and determined that the best course of action would be to cancel prom all together. Now, an attorney has contacted us saying that we are required to hold a prom to cater to this specific student or we can be sued.”</p><p>A woman in the audience wearing a striped shirt stood up. “My son will not be forced to attend a homosexual prom!</p><p>“With all due respect, ma’am,” Iroh began. “It will not be a homosexual prom. We are just required to hold an inclusive prom that all students can attend.”</p><p>“Will there be homosexuals at this prom?” A woman in red asked.</p><p>“Most likely. But—”</p><p>“Then it is a homosexual prom!” The striped woman interrupted. Personally, Sokka found the idea of a homosexual prom to be very intriguing. No straights allowed. Unfortunately, the PTA did not share this opinion.</p><p>A man in a cowboy hat spoke next. (“Seriously?” Sokka thought. “Who the heck wears a cowboy hat to a PTA meeting?”) “This is another case of the government trying to take away our rights! We have freedoms and they can’t take that away!”</p><p>“Sir, nobody is trying to take away your rights. If anything, the only person whose rights are on the line here are Sokka’s, specifically his right to exist in this school as an LGBT student and not be treated differently.” Iroh said, calmly. Honestly, Sokka was impressed by his composure. </p><p>Cowboy hat spoke again. “Well I don’t know what the fuck LBDT means but how come he gets to have more rights than us just because he’s choosing to be gay? That’s not right!”</p><p>“Nobody is asking for anything more than anyone else. Right, Sokka?” Iroh turned to him expectantly.</p><p>“Um… right. I just want to go to prom like everyone else.” Sokka could feel the unfriendly gazes of the parents coming from every direction. He looked down at his lap to avoid making eye contact with any of them. Clearly this was going very well. </p><p>Ozai spoke again. “I know this isn’t ideal and many of us do not feel comfortable with our children attending prom with someone like him but unfortunately my hands are tied. As many of you know, my daughter and son are the President and Vice President of the student council here. My daughter is not yet old enough to attend the prom outside of her duties as Student Council President but my son was, in fact, planning on attending so I understand your concerns. I do not want my son forced to be at prom with a gay student. But again, there is little that we can do. He is actually here today as a representative to share the student council’s thoughts on this matter. Zuko?”</p><p>Sokka’s head shot up. He had no idea that Zuko would be attending this meeting. As Zuko stood up to speak, he made eye contact with Sokka and gave him a small, sad smile before quickly looking away. Sokka, however, just kept staring at Zuko as he started to speak. “Well, the student council wants the prom to go on, obviously. We have been working very hard to plan and would hate for all that work to go to waste. Besides, we all go to school with Sokka every day and while not everyone is his biggest fan, we’re all at least used to being around him. So if the only way we can have a prom is having him there, I don't think the students will mind.” </p><p>Zuko sat back down but Sokka didn’t stop looking at him. They made eye contact again and this time Zuko mouthed, “I’m Sorry” and it was Sokka’s turn to smile at him sadly. </p><p>The woman in the stripes stood up again. Sokka was really getting sick of her. “Will this student be allowed to bring his… male friend?” </p><p>“We are not sure yet if we can legally tell him that he can’t bring a date but you can be certain that we will not allow anything unsavory to take place at our prom,” Ozai assured her. </p><p>Principal Iroh spoke again, “I appreciate your concern for our students and I know this may be hard to accept but we are going to hold an inclusive—“ There was a sudden rumble from the side of the cafeteria. All heads turned in time to see part of the wall crumble and a small girl in green step out followed by a boy dressed… like a monk?</p><p>Somewhere in the crowd, Katara gasped. “Is that the Avatar!?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang and Toph were lost. Having never been to high school themselves, the two had no idea where a PTA meeting might take place. </p>
<p>“Are you sure that the meeting was supposed to happen today?” Toph grumbled. </p>
<p>Aang did not appreciate being doubted. “Yes! Well, that’s what the school’s facebook page said at least… You know, they should probably make that private…”</p>
<p>“Come on, Twinkle Toes, Don’t start feeling guilty about all of this now. They’re the ones in the wrong here! And we’re here to show them that. Speaking of, I can feel people on the other side of this wall.”</p>
<p>“Great! Now how do we get there?”</p>
<p>“Easy. Break down the wall.”</p>
<p>Aang looked scandalized, “Toph, No!” </p>
<p>“Toph, Yes!” She retorted.</p>
<p>“We can’t just start destroying things! That’s vandalism!”</p>
<p>“Well, I’ll put it back…” She said and before Aang could argue further, Toph was already causing the wall to crumble. Soon she had created a nice Toph sized hole and stepped through into the PTA meeting. Aang was quick to follow. </p>
<p>There were gasps and a voice came from the audience, “Is that the Avatar!?”</p>
<p>“Sure is!” Aang exclaimed, “Check this out!” He grabbed some marbles out of his pocket and proceeded to spin them between his hands in the way that had sort of become his signature move. </p>
<p>The scary looking man in the truly ridiculous chair stood up, ‘What the hell are you doing here?” He growled. </p>
<p>Toph wasn’t phased by his clearly hostile tone. “We’re here to support… I think his name is Sokka? Which one of you is Sokka?” </p>
<p>Aang followed the gaze of the crowd to the boy with a ponytail sitting at the table up front next to an older and kinder looking man. He had his head in his hands and looked like he wanted to make himself as small as possible. </p>
<p>Aang practically skipped over to him. “Hi! I’m Aang!”</p>
<p>He finally looks up. “I’m Sokka,” is all he says. </p>
<p>“It’s nice to meet you, Sokka! We heard about what you are doing here and I think that you—“</p>
<p>“Get out.” The intense throne man interrupted. “This is not your concern, Avatar. You are not a student at this school. It is none of your business what we chose to do in our own community. Leave before I have you escorted out.”</p>
<p>“With all due respect, sir, as the Avatar it is my job to step in when I see something wrong happening. So that makes this my business. The way that you are treating him is wrong! You’re all adults and you’re being so mean to a teenager just because of who he is!”</p>
<p>“Okay, that’s enough.” The man sitting next to Sokka said. “I believe it best to adjourn this meeting for the time being and come back at a later date. This is clearly an unexpected turn of events and I do not think that we will accomplish any more should we continue. Now, young avatar, may I speak with you and your companion in private? I believe we have much to discuss.”</p>
<p>Aang deflated a little. That hadn’t gone exactly as he hoped. In Aang’s mind he had seen himself bursting in and giving a rousing speech that made the PTA change their minds about cancelling the prom because of one student who wasn't straight. But Aang barely had a chance to say anything at all. Now, the crowd was slowly dispersing or gathering in smaller groups to talk. He saw Sokka stand up and walk over to two girls about his age that both gave him a hug. Aang turned to the man who had asked to speak with him, “Okay, sir, what would you like to talk about?”</p>
<p>The man smiled. “I am Iroh, the principal here at Kiyoshi High School. Why don’t you and your friend follow me to my office and I will make you some tea. After all, sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights.”</p>
<p>“Lead the way!” Toph exclaimed. </p>
<p>___________________________________</p>
<p>When the meeting abruptly ended, Sokka went to find Katara and Suki. They both offered him hugs and immediately began talking.</p>
<p>“Do you think that we could murder Ozai and make it look like an accident? Because I really hate that guy,” Katara said</p>
<p>“I mean, probably?” Suki offered. “A guy like that has to have made lots of enemies so I bet nobody would even suspect us first.”</p>
<p>Katara nodded. “It's super crazy that the avatar showed up, right? Why would he care about some kid getting to go to some small town prom? No offense, Sokka.”</p>
<p>“Oh none taken. I’m just as confused as you are. How do you think he even heard about this?”</p>
<p>“I knew that this had started to get media attention,” Suki started, “Any time a school does something like this it makes headlines. But unfortunately, things like this aren’t exactly uncommon so I have no idea what made the avatar decide that he wanted to come here specifically.” </p>
<p>“Well maybe something that happened here made some of the PTA members change their mind about the prom?” Katara offered. “We can hope, right?”</p>
<p>Sokka’s phone buzzed and he went to pull it out. He noticed a text that Katara had apparently sent during the meeting that read, “Could your heart eyes be any bigger for him right now?? It’s honestly a wonder that nobody has figured out you’re together yet” followed by several of the heart eye emojis to prove her point. </p>
<p>He shot her a look. “Katara, that is not true I was… simply looking platonically.” He earned an eye roll in response. He looked back at his phone to check the other text message that he had received. It was from Zuko. “I have to go take care of something… I will be right back. Meet me at my car in a bit and I’ll give you guys a ride home. Okay, bye.” </p>
<p>Sokka practically ran. Zuko’s message had said to meet him in their typical spot. Their typical spot was a closet in the English hallway that held outdated textbooks and novels. The perks of having a boyfriend that was the Vice President of the Student Council and also made friends with his English teacher so that she would trust him to help catalogue and organize the books thus giving him a key to the closet included a nice private meeting spot. </p>
<p>Sokka reached the closet in record time. He knocked on the door with their agreed upon signal, four quick knocks and then four slow ones. Zuko opened the door. Sokka stepped in, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him in for a kiss. </p>
<p>They separated for a moment and Sokka said, “Fuck, that was awful… The meeting. Not the kiss. Kissing good.” And kissed him again. </p>
<p>Zuko pulled back this time, “Sokka, I’m so sorry, my father is—“</p>
<p>“I really feel like this experience would be improved if we didn’t talk about your father.” Sokka made a move to kiss him again but Zuko held a hand up.</p>
<p>“No, no, Sokka, I’m serious. You don’t deserve any of the shit he’s putting you through. Fuck, I’m so, so sorry. I can’t stand having to just sit back and pretend that you aren’t the best thing in my life. And I’m so sorry that you have to do this alone.”</p>
<p>“Zuko, you’re not to blame for any of this. Remember, we have a plan. And it’s a good plan! We go to prom together and then everyone knows. And we can finally come out of the English closet… That is still the plan, right?”</p>
<p>“Of course it is. If my father doesn’t ruin it. Honestly, it’s like the man has a sixth sense for when I’m about to do something publicly that he’d disapprove of. This may not have anything to do with you at all, he just got a feeling that I was going to stray from the perfect son image he’s created and cancelled the prom.”</p>
<p>“Well I can think of a few things we could do right now that your father would disapprove of.”</p>
<p>‘Oh yeah?” Zuko didn’t give him a chance to answer before he was kissing him again. </p>
<p>Zuko’s phone buzzed. “Shit. I’ve gotta go. My father’s looking for me. I’ll see you tomorrow, meet me back here during study hall, okay?”</p>
<p>Sokka grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it.” </p>
<p>Zuko gave him a final kiss goodbye and then he was gone. Sokka waited a moment before following. He’d be very glad when all the sneaking around was over.</p>
<p>Sokka found Katara waiting at his car like he told her to. She rolled her eyes as he approached. “God, Sokka, could you at least try to look like you haven’t been making out with someone in a closet? You’re so embarrassing. I wish I would have walked home like Suki did.” </p>
<p>“Well, you still can,” Sokka said, climbing into the driver’s seat without unlocking her door. He put the car in reverse and backed up a little to make his point. </p>
<p>Katara started banging on the window. “What the fuck, Sokka!? Fine, make out with Zuko at school all you want but don’t come crying to me when someone catches you!” Sokka unlocked the passenger door. </p>
<p>“Personally I think it is very valid of me to listen to Ozai be homophobic and then respond by immediately doing gay shit with his son. It’s almost poetic. Katara rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>“You’re ridiculous,” She laughed, then got a little more serious, “I’m worried about you. Zuko too, I guess. I mean, the avatar showed up today. The avatar! This is getting so complicated and apparently enough attention that the freaking avatar noticed. Suki and I have your back no matter what but this is getting too big for us to deal with alone.”</p>
<p>“Well good thing we apparently have the avatar on our side now? And who knows maybe there are others out there who support us and public opinion will change the PTA’s decision. If there’s anything that Ozai cares about, it's his image, so this getting big could be what we need.”</p>
<p>“Right, but Sokka, you hate talking in front of people and the bigger this gets, the more likely it is that you’ll have to. And Ozai’s image is another concern. What is he going to do to Zuko, or even you, if this prom happens and this plan you have goes ahead. The man is crazy, we both know that, but he’s somehow got a lot of power in this town. I don’t want you to get hurt.” </p>
<p>Sokka gave her a sad smile. “Thanks, Katara, but I’ve already gotten hurt so what’s a little more? I just keep telling myself that maybe at the end of this he and I will be able to stop hiding and honestly, that would make a little hurt worth it. Besides, what’s the worst Ozai can do when I have a badass waterbender for a sister who could definitely kick his ass?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello! Thanks for reading! </p>
<p>:)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Iroh’s office managed to be cozy despite being a room in a public school. He had a whole couch in there and the space was lit with several lamps rather than the overly bright public school fluorescents. Aang sat on the couch and Toph flopped next to him. Iroh took a seat at his desk, facing them. “Tea?” He offered.</p><p>“Yes, please!” Aang practically chirped.</p><p>“Sure,” Toph said.</p><p>Iroh got to work on the tea, getting out a teapot and cups. He began to heat the pot with his hands while Aang watched wide-eyed. ‘Whoa! Using firebending to make tea that’s so cool!” Iroh smiled and began pouring three cups. He handed one to Aang, one to Toph, and took a sip from the last one as he returned to his seat behind the desk. </p><p>Toph took a sip. “This is really good tea!”</p><p>Iroh beamed. “Thank you! The secret ingredient is love. Not that I love you, I just met you!” Toph and Aang both laughed at that. “So, Young Avatar, what brings you to our school?” </p><p>Aang set his tea down and began to talk. “Well I was online and I saw people talking about this high school student that wanted to take his boyfriend to the prom and how the parents wouldn’t let him and so they were going to cancel the prom. I thought maybe since the avatar is supposed to be good at resolving conflict I could come here and help! I was hoping to convince the PTA that just because somebody isn’t straight it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t get to go to prom like everyone else!”</p><p>“How noble of you to try to make a difference here. Sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else.” Aang wasn’t sure if Iroh somehow knew that his reasons for coming weren’t entirely selfless or if he was just doing a ‘wise old guy’ thing. “Though, you two seem a bit young to be traveling around by yourselves.”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean? You think we can’t handle ourselves?” Toph demanded.</p><p>“Of course not.” Iroh assured her. “I have no doubt that the avatar and the earthbender who destroyed half our cafeteria can take care of themselves.”</p><p>Toph had the decency to look at least a little bit ashamed. “...I’ll put it back,” She offered.</p><p>“I’m sure that you will. However, the two of you hardly look old enough to attend this school and I do not think it wise for you to face a man like Ozai, the president of the PTA. So, I must ask that you do not attend any more meetings.”</p><p>“What? But-“ Aang started.</p><p>Iroh held up a hand. “I have reason to believe that the PTA is reconsidering cancelling the prom so I do not think that your assistance is required regarding that particular issue. However, I do not think that your work here is done. You two came here for a reason and I imagine that you would like to see this through. So, I am prepared to allow you both to stay here at our school like an exchange student of sorts.”</p><p>Aang looked over at Toph. She did not look back. He hoped that she was thinking the same thing he was anyway. </p><p>“Okay! When can we start?” He asked.</p><p>______________________________________</p><p>Zuko’s morning always involved meeting up with his sister and her two best friends (Who were sort of his friends too…) in the hall before classes started. This morning was no different, and he found the three of them already standing together in the hallway discussing everyone’s favorite topic lately, the prom. Zuko did feel a little guilty for being part of the reason that the prom was in limbo, even if nobody knew that. He felt more than a little guilty for letting Sokka take all the heat for it alone, though. </p><p>Azula was talking about their father, of course, “Honestly, I think father is going to allow the prom to go on as planned.”</p><p>Ty Lee gasped. “Really?!” She looked ready to hug Azula but thought better of it.</p><p>Azula scoffed. “Of course. The last thing father wants is a media circus and that’s what this is turning into. You know how father cares about his image, and so far, the media isn’t making him look very good. Besides, he won’t let one dumb kid ruin his plans. He’s too smart for that.” </p><p>Mai sighed. “And now we get to spend the night in frilly dresses pretending to have fun. Great.”</p><p>Ty Lee swatted her shoulder, “Stop being such a downer, Mai. It’s prom!”</p><p>“Exactly.” Mai said. </p><p>“What I still don’t understand,” Azula started, “is what kind of loser would want to date that Sokka idiot.”</p><p>“...yeah,” Zuko sort of agreed, trying not to let her think that he was exactly the kind of loser that would date that Sokka idiot. </p><p>“I don’t know…” Ty Lee said, “He’s kind of cute, isn’t he?”</p><p>“I don’t see it,” Mai said. </p><p>“You never see it, Mai,” Azula started.”I’m beginning to think that you never got over your crush on Zu-Zu here.”</p><p>“Ha Ha. Very funny.” Mai said at the same time Zuko exclaimed, “Stop calling me that!”</p><p>“Come on Azula, leave them alone,” Ty Lee pleaded. </p><p>“Fine,” She agreed. “But I have been thinking and I don’t see why the two of you refuse to go to the prom with each other when neither of you have dates. It’s a little sad. I mean, Ty Lee’s already had what, eight boys ask her to the prom?”</p><p>“Seven,” Ty Lee corrected, “but I haven’t decided if I even want to go with any of them. Mai and I have been talking about going without dates at all and just hanging out together. Maybe Zuko can join too!”</p><p>Zuko wasn’t sure how he could politely turn them down without making it obvious that he actually did have someone to go with. Luckily, he didn’t have to. The bell rang, cutting off the talk about the prom and alerting them that it was time to split up and go to their respective study hall classes. </p><p>Zuko perked up at the sound of the bell. “I have to get to class now. Bye,” Then he practically ran away.</p><p>“Why’s he in such a rush to get to study hall?” Mai wondered aloud.<br/>
______________________________________</p><p>Zuko simply told his study hall teacher that he needed to go help his English teacher sort books. Sokka told his that he needed to go to the bathroom. They both found their way back to the English closet. </p><p>Sokka knocked the secret knock. Zuko let him in and greeted him with a kiss. </p><p>“Wow, good morning to you too,” Sokka grinned, then he got a bit more serious. “How was everything at home last night? I know your dad can be kind of intense and that meeting didn’t really go his way…”</p><p>“Thanks for asking but you know my father doesn’t really talk to me unless he has to. I’m sure Azula got an earful though. On that note, I do have good news. Azula thinks that the prom is back on! And I know she always lies to me but she also told Mai and Ty Lee so I think it’s for real!”</p><p>Sokka gasped and threw his arms around Zuko. “That’s great news!” </p><p>“If we go to prom together, everything’s going to change. We won’t have to sneak around any more!” Zuko said, sitting down on a box of old textbooks. </p><p>Sokka sat down next to him and threw an arm over his shoulder. “Whatever will I do with all my new free time now that we won’t have to drive to the next town over for dates?” </p><p>Zuko swatted at him. “Shut up. You enjoy those road trips just as much as I do. Especially with all the terrible singing you get to do.”</p><p>Sokka acted like he was offended. “Wow. And here I thought you enjoyed being serenaded.”</p><p>“I really do,” Zuko said, surprisingly earnest. “I can’t wait until I can walk around with you at school in front of everyone. We can literally come out of the closet.”</p><p>“We should definitely keep doing this anyway.” Sokka said, turning and leaning in to kiss him. Zuko met him halfway, bringing their lips together and wrapping his arms around the back of Sokka’s neck. </p><p>Sokka pulled away and stood up. “So will you?” </p><p>“Will I what?”</p><p>“Go to Prom with me?”</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes and grabbed Sokka’s hands, pulling him closer. “I already said yes.”</p><p>“Yes, but that was the homophobic prom. This is a new inclusive prom!”</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes and kissed Sokka. Then he pulled away and said, “You’re ridiculous.”</p><p>Sokka gasped, “Wait! No… forget everything I just said. I’m going to give you the greatest promposal of all time! Just wait!”</p><p>“Sure, Sokka. Whatever you say.” Zuko kissed him again, mostly just so he would stop talking about whatever his plans were. But also because he liked to kiss him. </p><p>“I should probably get back to class,” Sokka said, making no move to leave. “I told my teacher I was going to the bathroom and if I’m gone much longer she’s going to think I have some, you know, issues going on.”</p><p>“Well if you’re going to talk about your bathroom issues I don’t think I want to kiss you anymore anyway.” Zuko turned and opened up the box of books that they were sitting on before.</p><p>“You liar, you want to kiss me all the time, including that time I had the flu. Do I have to remind you what happened next?”</p><p>“I got the flu.” Zuko grumbled. </p><p>“You can’t resist me, I’m too adorable.” Sokka gave him his most dazzling smile, putting his face about six inches from Zuko’s.</p><p>Zuko pushed his face away. “Go back to class you idiot.” </p><p>Sokka finally made his way over to the door. Just before he opened it to leave, he turned around and blew Zuko the most exaggerated kiss he could manage. Zuko rolled his eyes and came over to give Sokka the real kiss he was looking for. “Now seriously, go to class!” </p><p>With that, Sokka finally opened the door and slipped out into the hallway.<br/>
______________________________________</p><p>Katara was very surprised to see the avatar and his earth bending friend come into her study hall class. She had been trying to finish her math homework due later but this new development was much more interesting. The avatar glanced her way and came to sit at the empty desk next to her. His friend sat at the desk on his other side.</p><p>“Hi!” He said, giving her a million-watt smile, “I’m Aang! And this is Toph!</p><p>“I’m Katara,” She responded.</p><p>Aang continued to smile, “Nice to meet you, Katara! I recognize you from the meeting yesterday! You’re one of the girls that was talking to Sokka!” </p><p>“Oh, he’s my brother!” </p><p>“Cool! I’m sorry that he has to deal with all this mess and also sorry if we came in and just made everything worse for you guys. Right, Toph?” Aang turned to look at her.</p><p>“Sure thing, Twinkle Toes.” She said.</p><p>Katara shot her a look then turned back to Aang. “What’s with her?”</p><p>“Oh, Toph’s just like that.” </p><p>Toph took that as her cue to flick a rock at Aang’s head. “I might be blind but I can still hear you.” </p><p>“Sorry, Toph.” He turned to Katara. “It’s true though, she’s like a cactus, prickly on the outside and soft on the inside.”</p><p>Katara wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that so she just nodded. “So, Aang, how did you hear about this whole prom thing? And why did you decide to come here?”</p><p>“Online of course! I read about how Sokka wasn’t allowed to go to prom because he wanted to bring his boyfriend and how the prom might be cancelled. I thought maybe the avatar could come and convince the PTA to not do that. Obviously that didn’t go so well yesterday.” Aang laughed awkwardly.</p><p>“Well, those PTA meetings could definitely use a surprise or two and you at least did that,” Katara offered. She wasn’t really lying either. It had been great to see things not go Ozai’s way for once.</p><p>“Yeah, but Principal Iroh said that we shouldn’t go to any more of them.”</p><p>That made Katara pause. “Oh. Well then what are you still doing here?” </p><p>Aang’s smile was back. “Iroh said that we could stay here as exchange students for a little while! Neither of us have ever gone to a real school and so we decided it might be fun.”</p><p>As someone who had been going to public school her entire life, Katara wasn’t sure that she would call it fun. However, she wasn’t about to tell the avatar that. “Well, If you need anyone to show you around I could help. Or if you need somewhere to sit at lunch you can join us.” </p><p>Somehow, Aang’s smile managed to get even bigger. “Okay! Thanks, that sounds good! I don’t know about you, but I think this could be the start of a great friendship!”</p><p>Katara gave him a small smile. “Sure, Aang,” she said, and then she turned back to her math.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Howdy and thanks for reading! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>During the morning announcements at the end of study hall, Principal Iroh announced that the prom was officially back on as scheduled. Sokka had hoped that the school would forgive and forget now that everything was fixed, but with the way that several members of his class turned to look at him after the announcement, it was looking like that wouldn’t happen. But whatever, Sokka wasn’t about to let them take away from the fact that he was actually going to get to take Zuko to prom. Take that Ozai! He couldn’t wait to see the look on that asshole’s face when he learned that his son was dating Sokka. </p><p>Sokka went to his morning classes as usual and then went to the table where he typically met Katara and Suki for lunch. He was a little surprised to not only find them there but also the avatar and his earth bender friend. “Uh, hi,” He said, sitting down in the empty seat next to Suki. </p><p>“Oh hey, Sokka. You already know Aang and this is Toph,” Katara said, gesturing to each of them.</p><p>“‘Sup,” Toph said, giving Sokka a nod. Sokka just nodded back at her.</p><p>Aang waved at him. “Hi again, Sokka! Sorry about yesterday!” </p><p>“No worries, It was kind of nice to have another person there who wasn’t a total asshole… and who knows maybe you guys showing up was the tipping point that made the PTA decide not to cancel the prom.”</p><p>Aang gasped and leaned forward towards Sokka. “You really think so?”</p><p>Sokka nodded. “Sure, you guys showing up really freaked them out.” </p><p>“Give yourself some credit,” Toph said, grinning. “You freaked them out first.” </p><p>Sokka assumed that she meant that in a positive way. “Uh, thanks? I think.”</p><p>“No problem.” She said and slugged him on the shoulder. </p><p>“Where are you guys staying while you are here?” Suki asked.</p><p>“Well I brought my flying bison, Appa, so we’re camping out in the park with him.” Aang said, as if sleeping in the park was a normal thing that people did. </p><p>Katara gave him a very confused look. “Aang, you can’t just camp in the park, that’s crazy!”</p><p>“Well, why not? Where else are we supposed to stay with a ten ton bison?”</p><p>Katara thought for a moment. “You could come stay with Sokka and I!” Sokka turned to look at her so fast his neck popped. She could evidently read the look on his face because she continued talking. “It would be fun! You could stay in our extra room and Appa could stay in the garage or the backyard or something. Either way, it’d be better than the park.”</p><p>Aang grinned like Katara had just offered him a million dollars. “Really? Would your parents be okay with that?” </p><p>“We actually live with our grandmother, but I think she’d be okay with it.” Katara explained.</p><p>“Does she know about… you know…” Toph gestured vaguely to Sokka. </p><p>“Yeah, Gran Gran’s cool. She likes the gays,” Sokka said.</p><p>“What happened to your parents?” Aang asked before quickly backtracking, “Sorry that’s probably a rude question.”</p><p>Sokka smiled at him. “It’s fine, Aang. Our mom died when we were kids and our dad is off doing marine research near the South Pole right now. But we get to call him pretty often and he comes home every once in a while so it’s not so bad. And before you ask, yes, I am also out to my father and he’s fine with it. It’d be kind of awkward if he wasn’t considering he’s literally bi himself. In fact, we think—“</p><p>“You think” Katara interrupted.</p><p>Sokka glared at her and then continued. “I think that my dad has something going on with his best friend slash research partner. But I can’t prove it.”</p><p>Suki rolled her eyes. “Not this again,” She groaned.</p><p>“Yes this again! Just because you two don’t see it—“</p><p>Katara cut him off. “It’s not that we don't see it, Sokka, it's just weird to invest this much thought into our Dad’s love life!” </p><p>“Ugh, fine. But mark my words, you’ll see. You’ll all see!” Sokka vowed, sounding a little like some sort of supervillain. “Anyway, what were we talking about?”</p><p>“We were talking about Aang and Toph staying with us while they’re here, Sokka. I swear you have the attention span of a goldfish.” Katara said. “I’m going to go call Gran Gran to make sure it’s okay with her.” She got up and walked towards the hallway where it would be quieter. </p><p>“So, Sokka, what are you going to wear to the prom? It’s in like a week and half, isn’t it?” Aang asked.</p><p>“Yeah it is. And I was planning on wearing one of my Dad’s old suits, Gran Gran’s fixing it up so it looks nice and it fits and everything.” </p><p>“Oh cool!” Aang said. “Are you and your mystery boyfriend getting a limo or going to dinner before or anything? Are those real prom things people do? I’ve only seen movies.”</p><p>Sokka sighed. “Well, right now, we’re just planning on meeting there. He’s not out yet, like at all. Katara and I are the only ones who even know and Katara finding out was an accident. But he’s planning to come out at prom.”</p><p>Toph whistled. “That’s a pretty public coming out. Good for him. How long have you two been together?”</p><p>Sokka started rambling, “A little more than 6 months but we were kind of secret friends before then. I came out at school a little over a year ago, we were paired together for a school project around that time and one day he was over at my place to work on it and he asked how I knew that I was bi and I said I just kind of knew and he said he thought he might be gay and then kind of freaked out because I was the first person he ever told. I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone and then we became friends, but he didn’t think his family would approve of us being friends so we didn’t really hang out in public. Then we did a whole long pining thing which was dumb but finally we kissed and agreed to date in secret which lasted until two months ago when Katara walked in on us in my room and of course they both freaked out but then he realized that having someone else know about us wasn’t the end of the world and he decided he wanted to come out at prom and now here we are… and you didn’t need the whole timeline I could have just said six months.” </p><p>Katara had come back sometime during Sokka’s monologue. “Good news! Gran Gran says you guys can stay! She said she’ll get the bedroom that Dad usually stays in when he’s home ready for you! And we can figure out where Appa can stay when we get there.” </p><p>Aang cheered. “Wow! This is going to be like a sleepover! Thanks Katara!” He stood up and threw his arms around her. Sokka watched as Aang let go and sat back down in his seat, a hint of a blush still left on his cheeks. Well, that was certainly an interesting development. Sokka vowed to keep a closer eye on the avatar and his little sister.</p><p>________________________________________________</p><p>Zuko couldn’t stop looking over at Sokka’s table. He knew that he wasn’t being subtle at all but something about the prom officially being back on had him unable to look away. He couldn’t wait until they didn’t have to sneak around anymore. Maybe he could join Sokka’s lunch table, or walk him to class, or—</p><p>Ty Lee waved a hand in front of his face. “Earth to Zuko! What are you staring at?”</p><p>Azula followed his gaze and evidently figured out exactly who he was staring at because she turned back to him and narrowed her eyes. “Hmm… Since when are you a Sokka sympathizer, Zu-Zu?” </p><p>“What? I’m… not. It’s just… the avatar is sitting over there with him.” Zuko tried. </p><p>“Well, that kid is definitely a Sokka sympathizer,” Mai said. Zuko couldn’t tell if she was making fun of Azula’s prior word choice or if she was serious.</p><p>“Yes, I will admit that the avatar was an unforeseen complication, “ Azula admitted. “But I don’t expect him to stick around much longer. There’s going to be a prom for his new best friend to go to. His mission was accomplished, he can leave now.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Mai agreed, “Why would he want to spend any more time in this hellhole?” </p><p>None of them had an answer to that question. And none of them really had anything else to say about the avatar either. Ty Lee steered the conversation to some gossip about how some guy was supposed to go to prom with some girl but then decided to ask her best friend instead or something like that. Zuko wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was texting Sokka, asking to meet in the usual place after school. </p><p>________________________________________________</p><p>Sokka wasted absolutely no time between being let into the closet and kissing Zuko. </p><p>“I can’t stay long, practice starts in 10 minutes and I still have to change,” He said and then kissed him again. </p><p>“Yeah I have to go to a Student Council meeting around then too,” Zuko said. “I just wanted to see you before that. We’re supposed to be ironing out the final details for the prom. I still can’t believe my father changed his mind.”</p><p>“Yeah, you and me both, buddy.” </p><p>Zuko groaned. “Sokka, you can’t call me buddy when your tongue was just in my mouth. That’s weird.”</p><p>“Sure I can! We’re buddies. Just guys being dudes.” Sokka kissed him again. </p><p>Zuko laughed a little and pushed him away. “Nope, you’ve ruined it. So, why was the avatar sitting with you at lunch?”</p><p>“Oh he’s not only sitting with us at lunch, Katara invited him to come stay at our house.” </p><p>“What?” Zuko asked, “How long is he staying?”</p><p>“I have no idea but apparently Principal Iroh said that he could stay as an exchange student for a little while. I dunno, it probably won’t be all bad. He seems nice enough.” </p><p>All Zuko could say in response was, “Huh.” Azula had thought that the avatar would be leaving soon and it wasn’t very often that she ended up being wrong. </p><p>“Oh!” Sokka exclaimed, like he’d just remembered something important. “I promised you a promposal, and I intend to deliver. Are you ready?”</p><p>“If I have to.”</p><p>“That’s the spirit!” Sokka said, digging in his backpack for something. “Ah-ha!” He said and handed Zuko a small, red flower. </p><p>Zuko’s mouth fell open. “Is this a—“</p><p>“Yes! It’s a fire lily!”</p><p>Zuko may have been blushing. Cute boys giving you flowers could tend to do that. “You remembered my favorite flower,” He said, a little awestruck.</p><p>“Hey, I remember things! I also remember a certain someone saying that he fell madly in love with me when he heard me read my poem in English class last year.”</p><p>“That’s definitely not what I said. I remember your poem being so ridiculously bad that I just had to get to know the idiot behind it.”</p><p>“Oh, okay. So I guess you don’t want to hear my promposal poem that I worked night and day on, that’s fine.”</p><p>Zuko softened. “Of course I want to hear it, Sokka. Go ahead.”</p><p>Sokka made a show of dramatically clearing his throat and getting himself ready. “I have prepared a haiku for you today. Here it is:<br/>
I like your dumb face<br/>
Let’s come out to the whole school<br/>
Go to prom with me?”</p><p>Zuko smiled and rolled his eyes, “You’re such an idiot.” He kissed him anyway. “And for the third time, Yes, I’ll go to the prom with you.”</p><p>Sokka cheered and kissed him yet again. </p><p>Zuko pulled out his phone to check the time. “Oh shit! The Student Council meeting starts in like 2 minutes, We’ve got to go!”</p><p>“Fuck, I’m going to have to run laps again!” Sokka moaned. They gathered their things and Zuko made a move to open the door. Before he could, Sokka grabbed his hand and pulled him back. “Hey,” He said, “Plan us a great prom.” </p><p>Zuko opened the door and the two rushed out into the hall, still hand in hand, before finally separating and going in opposite directions. They were in such a rush, they didn’t see Mai and Ty Lee watching, wide-eyed, from the other end of the hallway.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>oof</p><p>My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi! :)</p><p>As always thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Seeing a ten ton bison land in your front yard was certainly an experience. It definitely wasn’t one that Katara was expecting to have. If you had told her a week ago that the avatar would come to convince the PTA to let her brother go to prom and then end up staying at their house, she honestly would have called you crazy.</p><p>Yet here they were. Aang and Toph slid off of Appa’s back and onto the lawn. Aang walked around to give Appa a pat on the nose while Katara and Sokka moved to help them take their stuff inside. Sokka pulled a few leaves and a twig off of the bag he was holding before carrying it through the door.  </p><p>Katara led the way to the extra bedroom. “So, there’s only the one bed but one of you can sleep on the couch in the living room if you want.”</p><p>“Oh, That’s okay!” Aang said, “Toph usually likes to sleep on the floor anyway.”</p><p>“It’s closer to the Earth.” She chimed in. </p><p>“Ok good, I’m glad that won’t be a problem. Unfortunately, you will have to share a bathroom with Sokka so that might be one.”</p><p>“Hey!” Sokka complained. </p><p>Katara ignored him and continued her tour. “The bathroom is right here, towels are under the sink and if you need any extra soap or anything make Sokka get it for you. I’ll let you guys put your stuff down and then we can show you around the rest of the house.” She grabbed Sokka’s arm and dragged him out into the hall so he’d be out of their way. </p><p>Aang and Toph didn’t take long to come out of the room and join them. Katara took them to the living room next. Sokka took the liberty of showing them everything they needed to know. “Here’s the couch, the left side is the best for sitting but the right is the best for dramatically draping yourself over. Here is our TV that is older than Katara, the table our dad built that you can’t actually set anything on or it might collapse, and also the assortment of childhood photos which make it very clear that while I certainly got cuter with age, Katara tragically did not.” That earned Sokka a smack to the back of the head. </p><p>They went to the kitchen next and found Gran Gran cooking something on the stove. Katara got to work making introductions. “Gran Gran, this Aang and Toph. Toph and Aang, Gran Gran.” </p><p>Aang practically leaped forward. “It’s nice to meet you ma’am! Thank you for letting us stay here!”</p><p>“Ditto.” Toph said. Katara shot her a look and then rolled her eyes. </p><p>Gran Gran smiled. “I’m always happy to have new friends of Sokka and Katara over. That hasn’t happened in a while.” </p><p>‘Okay, great, Everyone’s met.” Katara said. “Now we should figure out what we’re going to do with Appa.” She practically dragged Aang and Toph back outside before Toph could say something to upset her grandmother or her grandmother had a chance to say something embarrassing. Sokka did not follow them out. He excused himself to go “finish some homework” which Katara knew just meant he was going to go hide upstairs and call Zuko. </p><p>This was confirmed by Toph. “Yeah, he’s definitely lying. We should go spy on him and see what he’s really doing!”</p><p>“Trust me, he’s going to call his boyfriend and you want no part of that.” Katara patted Toph’s shoulder who shrugged her hand off almost immediately. </p><p>Aang seemed to be oblivious to the slight tension between the two. ‘Hey, Katara! You’re a waterbender, right? Want to help me give Appa a bath before he stays in your garage?”</p><p>“Sure, Aang. Sounds fun.”</p><p>Turns out, giving a ten ton bison a bath is not actually all that fun. It’s pretty hard work. Katara was using both waterbending and the garden hose to get Appa rinsed off. Aang was also waterbending and using a large brush to scrub Appa. Toph was sitting in the dirt, watching. </p><p>Katara may have gotten a little overzealous with the water because Toph screamed, “Watch it!” Suddenly, there was a glob of mud flying through the air and hitting Katara on the shoulder. She whirled around and flung a long whip of water straight into Toph’s face. </p><p>“What the hell is your problem?” Toph demanded.</p><p>“What the hell is your problem?” Katara shot right back. </p><p>“Uh, guys?” Aang looked between them nervously. “Is everything okay?”</p><p>Katara scoffed. “Whatever. Let’s just finish washing Appa.” </p><p>“No,” Toph said, “I feel like if you have something to say to me you should say it.”</p><p>“Okay, well, how about we start with the fact that you’ve done nothing but sit here while Aang and I bust our butts washing this bison, you were kind of rude to my grandmother in there, and since you got here you’ve made it seem like you’d rather be anywhere else in the world. So excuse me for being a little tired of your attitude.”</p><p>“Listen, Sweetness, Aang and I took time out of our lives to come down here and help your brother. And now we’re stuck here attending high school, which is gross.”</p><p>Katara rolled her eyes. “No one is making you stay here. Why not just leave instead of staying and making everyone else miserable?”</p><p>Aang stepped in between them. “Okay, it's been a long day and I think we’re all tired. Appa’s clean enough now so I’ll just go ahead and dry him off and then we can all go inside and rest. Sound good?”</p><p>“Whatever.” Toph muttered.</p><p>It was pretty impressive how fast Aang managed to get a massive flying bison dry using airbending. He led Appa to the garage where he laid down next to Gran Gran’s car, looking like a big, fuzzy van. “See you later, buddy!” Aang said as he closed the door. </p><p>They walked back inside. Aang and Toph went to their room while Katara went to hers and shut the door. She flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes, hoping that this would all just hurry up and be over. </p><p>________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Prom day approached very quickly for Sokka. Between school, their new houseguests (including the weird tension between Toph and his sister… he made a mental note to revisit that after the prom), sneaking around with Zuko, and half expecting the other shoe to drop somehow, he had no idea how a week and a half had passed so quickly. But the day of the Prom arrived like any other Saturday and it looked like, against all odds, Sokka was going to have a life changing night. </p><p>Maybe that was a little too much pressure to put on a high school dance but really, Sokka cared far more about what the events of the dance would lead to, rather than the dance itself. He couldn’t believe that in a matter of hours the whole school would know about him and Zuko. The thought made him feel almost giddy. Whether that was because of excitement or nerves he wasn’t quite sure. </p><p>Sokka was grabbing coffee from the kitchen when his phone buzzed with a text from Zuko. It wished him a good morning and stated that it was prom day as if he possibly could have forgotten. Sokka sent back a gif of the starfish from finding Nemo that said “Today’s the day!” </p><p>He took the coffee back to his room and then spent pretty much the rest of the morning texting Zuko. He seemed more nervous than Sokka was which was obviously understandable, Zuko did have the harder job to do today after all. Coming out to the school would be no small feat.</p><p>The day absolutely crawled by. Sokka laid on every horizontal surface in the house, tried to help Aang and Katara make lunch, talked with Toph for a while, sat on every horizontal surface he had already laid on, tried to watch some TV, went for a run, played some cards with Gran Gran and made at least 15 trips to the fridge for snacks. </p><p>Katara finally got sick of all his nervous movement. “Oh my God, Sokka, I’m going to lose it. Pick a spot and stay there!” So he did. Sokka retreated to his bedroom thinking maybe a nap would be a good way to pass the time. Unfortunately he was too wired to sleep. He ended up mindlessly scrolling on his phone for a bit and texting Suki asking if she would come over and help him look as hot as possible. It was going to be a big night and he wanted to look the part. </p><p>Suki showed up about an hour later. She flopped down on the bed next to Sokka. “Hey hot stuff, are you ready for tonight?”</p><p>“I think so. I hope so.” Sokka propped himself up on one elbow so he could look over at her. “I can’t believe it’s finally happening.”</p><p>“And I can’t believe I finally get to know who you’ve been dating!”</p><p>“Yeah, everyone’s going to know.” He sat up all the way. “Fuck, everyone’s going to know.”</p><p>“Hey, it’s going to be great. You’re going to finally get to be together out in the open. It’s going to be great. Now, go take a shower, and then we’ll work on making you pretty.”</p><p>________________________________________</p><p> </p><p>Zuko was about ready to jump out of his own skin. He could hardly believe that it was finally the day of the prom. It was finally the day that he was going to get to tell the whole school that he was dating Sokka. Zuko was already dressed in his black tuxedo and ready to go even though his father wasn’t planning on leaving for another 45 minutes. </p><p>The door to his room opened suddenly. Zuko scrambled up from where he was sitting on his bed when he realized that it was his father standing in the doorway. “Father,” he said.</p><p>Ozai simply nodded in acknowledgement and moved to close the door behind him. Considering the fact that his father never came to his room unless he’d done something wrong, Zuko’s mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenario, somehow his father must know about what he was planning on doing and he was here to put a stop to it. Or he was here to just straight up murder Zuko, though that option did seem slightly less likely. </p><p>“I have worked very hard on this Prom,” Ozai started, “and I have seen to it that the big issue was resolved. We are going to have a nice, normal prom. I made sure of that.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Zuko asked, not fully understanding what his Father was trying to say. </p><p>“Never mind, it’s none of your concern. I’ve handled it.” Zuko was honestly still a little lost as to what his father had supposedly fixed. Had there been an issue with the DJ or the school’s gym that he hadn’t heard about? </p><p>His Father continued, “I came here to discuss a different matter with you. All eyes will be on me this evening if anything goes wrong. I need you, as my son, to be on your best behavior. I’m sure you remember what happened the last time you stepped out of line in public. We sure wouldn’t want a repeat of that.”</p><p>Zuko’s eyes widened. “Yes, sir.”</p><p>“Good.” Ozai said. “We leave in half an hour.” And with that, he turned and left the room. </p><p>Zuko sat back down on his bed and put his head in his hands. The good news was, it didn’t seem like his father had caught wind of what he was planning with Sokka. The bad news was, that plan would be exactly what his father would consider stepping out of line. </p><p>Well, Zuko always knew he was the family disappointment. May as well continue that, right?</p><p>________________________________________</p><p>Sokka really felt like a million bucks. He had on his dad’s old navy blue suit, freshly altered to fit (thanks Gran Gran), and Suki had insisted on giving him some eyeliner to complete the look. He had to admit, he looked hot. </p><p>Sokka emerged from the hallway into the living room where his friends and grandmother were waiting as dramatically as possible. </p><p>Katara gasped. “I have to admit, you clean up very well, Sokka.”</p><p>Suki looked him up and down. “It’s definitely missing something.” She pulled a pin out of her pocket and walked over to pin it on the lapel of Sokka’s suit jacket. He looked down and saw that it was a tiny bi pride flag pin. Suki stepped back to take it all in. ‘Yep, now you’re perfect.”</p><p>“It’s not too much?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Aang grinned. “Nope! It’s the perfect amount!”</p><p>Gran Gran walked over and gave him a hug. When she pulled away, her eyes were a little watery. “You look so much like your dad right now. I just can’t believe how fast you’ve grown up. Now let me get some pictures!”</p><p>Sokka posed by himself, then with Katara, then with all his friends, then with Gran Gran, then with Katara and Gran Gran. “Make sure you remember to get one with you-know-who at the dance, too,” Katara reminded him. </p><p>“You kids better get going, we wouldn’t want Sokka to miss his big night.” Gran Gran said, beginning to shoo them all out the door. </p><p>Sokka had asked them all to come along to drop him off at the prom. As he watched them climb into Appa’s saddle he was really glad that he did. Having his friends there, even if they couldn’t actually come in with him, helped calm his nerves. Once everyone was on, Appa took off towards the school.</p><p>On Appa, the journey to school took less than 10 minutes which never failed to impress Sokka. If he had driven, it would have taken at least double that. The wonders of giant flying bison. Appa touched down in the school parking lot and the group climbed off of his back and onto the ground. </p><p>“Well,” Sokka said. “This is it.”</p><p>“You’ve got this. It’s going to be a great night,” Suki said, pulling a clump of fur off of his suit. </p><p>Katara gave him a hug. “Have a great time! Text me when you need us to come pick you up.”</p><p>“Good Luck, Sokka.” Toph said, punching him in the arm. </p><p>Aang just smiled and gave him two thumbs up. </p><p>Sokka gave them one last nervous smile before turning around and walking through the doors and into the school.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Stay tuned for the prom next chapter ;)</p><p>My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi! :)</p><p>As always thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Uh, guys?” Toph said. “Something doesn’t feel right here. Like, literally doesn’t feel right. Maybe I’m wrong since I’ve never been to a prom before but I really expected to feel more people around.”</p><p>“Maybe we’re just too far away from the gym?’ Aang offered. </p><p>“Yeah, maybe that’s it.” She agreed.</p><p>Katara looked around the parking lot. She didn’t want to admit it (because it would make Toph right) but something definitely felt strange. There were cars parked around them but everything felt weirdly quiet. Since they had landed on Appa, they hadn’t seen a single other person go into the school.</p><p>She exchanged a glance with Suki who seemed to share her suspicions. </p><p>“Maybe we should go make sure Sokka got in okay,” Suki suggested.</p><p>Katara nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”</p><p>Aang turned to Appa and told him, “Stay here, buddy!”</p><p>They all walked to the doors that Sokka had disappeared through and followed him in. </p><p>________________________________________</p><p>Sokka walked through the doors of the gym and all he could say was, “What the fuck?”</p><p>He had seemingly stumbled into the worst prom of all time. A few streamers hung limply from the walls. There were half blown up balloons scattered haphazardly around on the floor. There was a table set up near the front of the gym with a mostly empty punch bowl and small rainbow disco ball lamp that was not doing a very good job of setting the mood for a prom. Principal Iroh sat behind the table, talking to someone on a cell phone. </p><p>Sokka was vaguely aware of the door opening behind him. </p><p>“Holy shit,” he heard Toph say. “Is this a prom or a funeral?”</p><p>“That’s not funny, Toph!” Katara hissed.</p><p>“Well excuse me for trying to lighten the mood!”</p><p>Principal Iroh finished up his phone call and hung up, he rose from his chair and came over to the group of teenagers.</p><p>“What the hell happened here?” Suki demanded. </p><p>“I am still piecing everything together myself.” Iroh said. </p><p>“Where is everyone?” Sokka asked, far more quietly than his normal tone.</p><p>Principal Iroh looked at him, gaze full of pity. “From what I’ve gathered, after the PTA agreed to hold an inclusive prom It seems that the parents met without my knowledge and made some changes. They organized two separate proms, one at the hotel across town for all the other students, and this one for you.”</p><p>“Oh my God,” Sokka whispered. “But… I got texts from people… I saw tweets and instagram posts. Everyone said it was here.” He migrated over to the chair that Iroh had vacated and plopped down, putting his face in his hands.</p><p>“And... there were cars in the parking lot!” Aang protested.</p><p>“Yes, it seems that was all a part of the plan.” Iroh said. “They made every effort to ensure that Sokka still believed that the prom would be held here. And it looks like some students parked their cars here and then rode with friends or in rented limos to the real prom.”</p><p>Katara looked absolutely murderous. “So you’re saying the whole fucking town got together to keep this from him. A bunch of adults sat down and decided to fuck over a seventeen year old.”</p><p>“I feel like I’m going to be sick,” Sokka groaned. Aang slid the punch bowl closer to him just in case. </p><p>“Can they do this?” Suki demanded.</p><p>“Well, it looks like they already did,” Toph said.</p><p>Aang looked absolutely devastated. “This is just mean! How could someone do something like this?”</p><p>Iroh’s phone rang again. “Excuse me, I should take this. We can figure out what to do next when I get back.” He walked out of the gym and into the hallway.</p><p>Katara hadn’t gotten any calmer. “I swear, the next time I see Ozai, that asshole is going to pay.”</p><p>Sokka stood abruptly at the mention of Ozai. “I’m going to call Zuko,” he said, whirling around and walking off towards the boy’s locker room, kicking a partially deflated balloon on his way out. </p><p>Suki’s eyes widened. She looked over at Katara and mouthed, “Zuko?!”</p><p>Katara grimaced. Then she nodded.</p><p>“Holy shit!” Suki mouthed back at her. </p><p>“Who’s Zuko?” Toph asked. “And why did hearing his name make Suki freak out?”</p><p>Katara sighed. “Zuko is… Sokka’s boyfriend.” She hoped that Sokka wouldn’t be mad at her for confirming what he had sort of implied himself. </p><p>“And,” Suki paused, “Zuko is Ozai’s son.”</p><p>“Ozai the PTA jerk?” Aang asked. “Sokka’s boyfriend is his son?”</p><p>“Oh shit,” Toph muttered.</p><p>“Oh shit, indeed,” Katara agreed. “I was a little skeptical when I found out they were dating for that exact reason.” </p><p>Suki gasped like a terrible thought had just occurred to her. “Wait, you don’t think Zuko was in on this… do you?”</p><p>________________________________________</p><p>Zuko’s father pulled into the parking lot of a building that was definitely not Kiyoshi High School. </p><p>“What’s going on? Why aren’t we at the school gym?” Zuko asked.</p><p>“There’s been a last minute change of plans and we were forced to change the venue.” Ozai said. </p><p>‘What? Why?” </p><p>“We simply did what we were legally required to do. We gave him a prom to attend.”</p><p>Everything finally clicked for Zuko. “Oh my god… there are two proms. One for him and one for everyone else. How did I not know about this?”  </p><p>“I’m sure your sister and her friends told you. You must not have been paying attention.”</p><p>Zuko was absolutely certain that they hadn’t. But why? What reason could they possibly have for keeping this from him? </p><p>He was also confused as to how his father expected to get away with this when there were already attorneys involved. “But I thought legally—“</p><p>“I consulted with my own lawyers and they assured me that this is technically in compliance. All we had to do was allow this student to attend prom.” He could tell his father was getting annoyed by his reaction. “This is a good thing. Now this town’s students won’t be forced to attend a prom with someone like him.” </p><p>Zuko had no idea what to say to that. All he wanted to do was get out of his fathers car and go call Sokka. Maybe he could manage to warn him before he got to the school.</p><p>His father was looking at him expectantly and a little angrily. “What, no thank you for ensuring that you would have a normal prom? Are you on his side now? Are you a fucking queer too?” Zuko’s heart was racing. This was absolutely his worst nightmare. Sure, he was supposed to come out tonight, but not like this. </p><p>“What?” It came out more like a whisper than he intended. He swallowed and started again, “N-no. Of course not.” He wanted nothing more than to be anywhere other than this car having this conversation. “I was just surprised and a little confused. It’s fine.”</p><p>Ozai fixed his gaze on Zuko. His eyes narrowed, looking for any indication that he was lying. Zuko felt like squirming under the heat of his stare. Ozai finally spoke again, “Remember what we spoke about earlier. I don’t want a single toe out of line from you tonight, understood?”</p><p>“Yes, sir.”</p><p>With that, his father climbed out of the car, not waiting for Zuko to follow. He stayed in his seat for a moment longer and took a deep breath before heading inside the building himself. </p><p>Zuko had hardly gotten through the door when he was pulled aside by Mai who brought him over to where Ty Lee was standing. Okay, great. This conversation was happening now then. </p><p>“What the hell?” He demanded. “How could you not tell me about this!”</p><p>Mai scoffed. “Zuko, we did you a favor here. We know about you and Sokka.”</p><p>Zuko froze. “What?”</p><p>Ty Lee’s face was devoid of her usual smile. “We saw you two leaving the closet in the English hallway last week.”</p><p>Zuko felt like he was going to pass out. “Does Azula know?”</p><p>Mai rolled her eyes. “You’d definitely know if Azula knew.”</p><p>Ty Lee gave him a sad smile. “If it makes you feel any better, we don’t care if you’re gay. And I think you and Sokka are very cute together!”</p><p>It did make him feel a little better. At least Mai and Ty Lee didn’t appear to be totally homophobic. “But why didn’t you tell me about this?”</p><p>“Because, Zuko!” Mai said. “You don’t think things through! We figured that your plan might be to come to the prom as Sokka’s date and have a big coming out moment. Were we close?” </p><p>He nodded and Ty Lee picked up where Mai left off. “Azula told us about what your father was planning for tonight and we told her we would tell you. Then we didn’t. I’m really sorry Zuko, we’d love it if you could go ahead with your plan and have a magical night with Sokka but have you forgotten who your father is? You know what he’s capable of.”</p><p>Zuko sighed. “Of course not, that’s why we were planning to do it in public. He can’t do anything to me in front of people, he wouldn’t risk his image like that.”</p><p>“Okay, and then what?” Mai asked, “You go back home with him where nobody is around and end up mysteriously injured or worse. Did you think that far ahead? Or were you too busy making heart eyes at your boyfriend to think beyond tonight?”</p><p>“I didn’t ask you to make this decision for me. I can handle myself.” Zuko insisted. </p><p>Mai sighed. “Well excuse us for wanting you to live to see tomorrow.” </p><p>“So, what? I’m supposed to just stay in the closet forever?”</p><p>“I don’t know, Zuko.” Ty Lee said. ‘But you should probably wait until you’re out of his house at least.”</p><p>He sighed but didn’t get a chance to reply before his phone was buzzing. “It’s Sokka… I’m gonna…” He didn’t even finish his sentence before he was out the door. He found a somewhat private place outside and answered the call. </p><p>________________________________________</p><p>Sokka stood in the boys locker room, leaning on a wall by the door. He grabbed his phone and called Zuko. He picked up on the fourth ring. For a moment there, Sokka really thought he was going to get his voicemail. </p><p>“Sokka? Sokka, I’m so sorry.’</p><p>At the sound of his voice, Sokka felt relieved but also a little bit angry. “Did you know?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Did. you. know? About this?”</p><p>“How could you even ask that, of course I didn’t know!”</p><p>“Well, your fucking father is behind this, what am I supposed to think, Zuko?”</p><p>“Sokka, I would never do something like this to you. You have to know that. Mai and Ty Lee saw us coming out of the English closet last week and they made sure that I didn’t find out about the separate proms.”</p><p>Sokka wanted to hit something. How could they have been so careless? “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t your fault. I’m just upset. This fucking sucks.”</p><p>“God, Sokka. I wish I could be there with you.”</p><p>“So why don’t you come meet me here?”</p><p>“I can’t.”</p><p>“You can’t? Or you won’t”</p><p>“My father’s here. He won’t let me out of his sight. I barely got away to answer your call.”</p><p>Sokka wanted to cry. He was having a terrible night and he apparently couldn’t even turn to his boyfriend for help. “So tell him you’re gay! Tell him you’re my boyfriend! That was the plan, right?”</p><p>“None of this is like we planned! It’s bad enough that Mai and Ty Lee know!”</p><p>Sokka scoffed. “Bad enough? Wow, I didn’t realize that dating me was such a bad thing.”</p><p>“That’s not what I meant. It’s just… none of this is how I thought it would be.”</p><p>“No fucking kidding.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Sokka.”</p><p>“Oh, you’re sorry? Well, that fixes everything! I hope you have so much fun at the normal, heterosexual prom. Don’t bother calling me. I need some space.”</p><p>“Sokka—“ Sokka hung up before Zuko had a chance to finish. </p><p>Sokka slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground. He crossed his arms over his knees and hid his face in them, trying not to cry.</p><p>He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before his friends came in after him. </p><p>Katara put her hand on his shoulder and quietly asked, “Sokka?”</p><p>He lifted his head. They were all kind enough to not comment on his red eyes or wet cheeks. </p><p>“You okay, bud?” Suki asked, even though the answer was pretty clearly no. </p><p>Sokka nodded anyway and moved to stand up. “I’m fine. Let’s just go home.” </p><p>“Home?” Toph asked. “I say we all get on Appa, go to the other prom, and show those assholes—“</p><p>“Just stop!” Sokka interrupted. “This is already one of the worst nights of my life and I don’t want to make it any longer. Just stop trying to help and take me home!” </p><p>He didn’t wait for a response before he was opening the door and heading for the gym doors, trying to escape the nightmare prom as quickly as possible.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m sorry? (Except I’m not.) </p><p>It wouldn’t be a Zukka fic without some suffering ;)</p><p>My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi! </p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Guys, look at this!” Suki said, shoving her phone towards Aang who was sitting on the couch with Katara and Toph on either side. Katara leaned in to see the screen. Toph did not. </p>
<p>It was a video of Ozai (because of course it was) talking to some reporter. “Some have accused us of using the second prom purely to humiliate this boy. That simply is not true.”</p>
<p>Toph scoffed. “Fucking liar.” </p>
<p>“—wanted to protect him from those who are offended by his life choices. And we also couldn’t ask people in our town to attend, or have their children attend a prom in which these offensive lifestyle choices would be on display. It wouldn't have been fair to allow this one student to make the dance uncomfortable for anyone else. My own son was attending this dance and would not have been able to enjoy the night had this boy been allowed to attend.”</p>
<p>Katara rolled her eyes. “The man can really lay on the bullshit, can’t he?”</p>
<p>Ozai just kept talking. “—don’t want to point fingers but this only became a massive problem when the avatar showed up. He came into our community, uninvited, and proceeded to exploit this poor boy for publicity. He—“</p>
<p>Aang shut the video off and handed the phone back to Suki. </p>
<p>“Ugh that guy makes my skin crawl,” Toph said. “How does he think he can blame Sokka or Aang for this when he’s literally the one who planned the whole thing?”</p>
<p>Suki sighed, “There’s been a lot more support for him than you might think.”</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Katara asked, reaching for Suki’s phone to look at the comments on the video. “How could anyone think he’s in the right here?” She kept scrolling down the page. “Shit. Let’s hope Sokka doesn’t see all this… Maybe we should go check on him again, make sure he’s ok.”  </p>
<p>“I’ll bring the ice cream!” Aang said, bounding over to the freezer to grab it. </p>
<p>They walked towards Sokka’s room together and found his door closed. Katara knocked softly. “Sokka? Can we come in?”</p>
<p>A muffled, “Yeah,” came from inside so Katara pushed the door open and they all filled in. </p>
<p>Sokka was curled up on his bed, completely covered in a blanket besides his socked feet and the tip of his ponytail sticking out either end. Suki sat down next to him. “Sokka? How’re you doing, bud?”</p>
<p>Sokka shifted and poked his face out of his blanket burrito. “Me? I’m great.” </p>
<p>“And so you’re just laying here in the dark for fun, then?” Toph asked.</p>
<p>“Well see I got bored of reading comments from strangers on the internet agreeing with fucking Ozai and decided to lay here and wallow in self pity instead.” He tucked his head back into his blanket. </p>
<p>Aang looked a little uncomfortable. “Uh… I brought you ice cream?”</p>
<p>That made Sokka sit up. He kept his blanket around his head like a hood but put out his hand for the ice cream. Aang handed it over and Sokka grabbed the spoon and dug in. ‘Ah yes, drowning my sorrows in ice cream… I’m going to need more of this shit.”</p>
<p>Katara sat down on the bed too. “I just can’t believe that people are taking his side as if he’s not a grown man hate criming a teenager.”</p>
<p>“He’s pretty good,” Toph said. “I mean, he’s managed to spin this whole thing so that he looks like a victim. We can’t let him get away with this, we need to do something!”</p>
<p>Aang gasped, “Toph! That’s a great idea! He’s been talking to reporters and stuff so we could do that too! Sokka could be the face of this story and show the world the other side of this whole prom thing. Oh! I bet I could talk to my friend Bumi and get Sokka on his show!”</p>
<p>“Bumi?” Sokka asked through a mouthful of ice cream, “Like ‘Crazy King of Late Night TV’, Bumi?” When Aang nodded, Sokka shook his head. “Nope. No way. Not happening. There is no way I can get up in front of a camera and that many people and talk about this. It’s over, okay? We lost. Maybe it’s best if you all just leave.” </p>
<p>Katara sighed. “Sokka, I know this is hard but I think they’re right. If we do nothing then Ozai wins.”</p>
<p>“He’s already won. He got exactly what he wanted. I didn’t defile his perfect prom and he even got a secret bonus that he doesn’t even know about. I’m pretty sure Zuko’s never going to talk to me again after our phone call that night so he doesn’t have to worry about me defiling his perfect son anymore either.” Sokka set down his ice cream on the bedside table and retreated back into his blanket burrito. “Please, just leave me alone.”</p>
<p>Toph walked over to the door. “Alright people, give the man some space.” </p>
<p>Katara and Suki reluctantly stood up and walked towards the door. Aang followed. When they made it out into the hallway, Toph shut and locked the door behind them. </p>
<p>There was a pounding on the door followed by Katara yelling, “Toph! What the fuck?!”</p>
<p>“Sorry, Sugar Queen, I’m going to hang out with Sokka for a bit. Bye.” With that, Toph walked back over to the bed and flopped down, propping her feet up on the wall. </p>
<p>Katara banged on the door a little more before giving up. Toph and Sokka sat in silence for a little while before he unwrapped himself and spoke up. “No offense, but why are you still here? If you’re going to tell me I should go on live TV and talk about this you’re wasting your time. I’m not doing it.”</p>
<p>“Maybe I’m just here to piss off your sister,” Toph offered. </p>
<p>That actually got a small laugh from Sokka. “You’re definitely succeeding at that.”</p>
<p>“Plus, somebody has to talk some sense into you and get you to stop moping around.”</p>
<p>He sighed. “I never asked for any of this to happen. And the last thing I want is to be turned into some kind of martyr. I just wanted to take my boyfriend to the high school prom.”</p>
<p>“Okay, so do you want to sit around moping or do you want to do something about it?” </p>
<p>“Toph, I absolutely cannot get up in front of that many people.”</p>
<p>“So don’t,” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Aang didn’t mean that going on TV was the only option, just that it was one.”</p>
<p>“I don’t even know where to start.”</p>
<p>“Well, think of your best case scenario, how do you hope this whole mess ends?”</p>
<p>“Honestly? Ozai falls off a cliff and homophobia is solved,” Sokka said, sort of half jokingly. “But more realistically, this might sound cheesy as hell but I’d like to have a prom where kids can be who they are and bring whatever date they want. Let everyone have the prom night they deserve. Throw the homosexual prom the PTA was so scared of.”</p>
<p>Toph grinned. “We could have the gayest prom ever!” </p>
<p>Sokka smiled back. “That’s the dream.”</p>
<p>Toph sat up and looked over at him. “You know I’m serious, right? We should absolutely throw a gay prom.”</p>
<p>“Toph, we don’t know the first thing about throwing a prom.”</p>
<p>She shrugged. “Okay, so we can start by reaching out to Principal Iroh. I’m sure he knows things about having a prom.”</p>
<p>“And how would we even start to pay for something like this?”</p>
<p>Toph laughed. “Don’t worry about that part, I’m very good at finding money to pay for things.”</p>
<p>Sokka looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. “Well that sounds like something that I do not want to know any more about for fear of being an accomplice to a crime.” Her laughter turned into an almost evil sounding cackle. Sokka got a little more serious. “So, you really think I should go public with my side of the story?”</p>
<p>“I think it might be good for you and for others out there like you. Plus, it could help get the word out about our gay prom!”</p>
<p>“As much as I hate to admit it, I think I have to do this. Still not going on TV though.” Sokka was adamant about that. </p>
<p>“Do you have an idea of what you’ll do instead?”</p>
<p>“I’m sure I can think of something. Thanks, Toph.”</p>
<p>She punched him in the arm. “No problem, buddy!”<br/>

________________________________________</p>
<p>After being unceremoniously removed from Sokka’s room and unsuccessfully pounding on the door to be let back in, Aang pulled Katara aside. “Can I tell you something?” He asked.</p>
<p>“What’s up, Aang?”</p>
<p>“I have to admit something… about why we came here.” He trailed off.</p>
<p>“Yeah?” Katara prodded.</p>
<p>“Well, what Ozai said earlier? It’s kind of true.”</p>
<p>Katara gave him a questioning look. “Don’t tell me you’re getting biphobic on us now. You might be the avatar but I can and will kick your ass.”</p>
<p>His eyes widened. “No, no! Definitely not. Everything he was saying about Sokka was ridiculous.” Aang was a little bit upset that she could even think that. “I meant he was right with what he said about me.” </p>
<p>“What? He barely even said anything abou— oh.”</p>
<p>Aang made a pained face. “I’m really sorry.”</p>
<p>Katara sighed and ran her hands down her face. “I’m really going to need you to elaborate here.” </p>
<p>“Right, okay. So a few weeks ago I saw an article where some guy was basically saying that the avatar was an outdated idea and there was no point in having one anymore. So I thought that maybe if I could do something good then people would change their minds. Then I saw something about how Sokka wasn’t going to be allowed to go to prom and I thought maybe I could come and convince the PTA and do something good so that I wouldn’t seem so useless. But I think I just made everything worse. This is all my fault, none of this would have happened if we had never come here.”</p>
<p>She looked at him for a moment, considering. “Okay, first of all, nothing that happened here was your fault. I have no doubt that Ozai was planning this before you even showed up. He’s a dick. And okay, maybe your motives for coming weren’t entirely pure but if you were in this just for good press, you would have run away when things went to hell the other night. But you didn’t. You’re still here dealing with my mopey brother. You’re a good avatar and a good person, Aang. And I’m glad that you came here.”</p>
<p>Aang was blushing. He knew his cheeks were rapidly turning the color of tomatoes but he found that he didn’t actually care. He turned to Katara and threw his arms around her. “Thanks, Katara. You know, I really am glad that I came here too. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to meet you!” </p>
<p>Now it was Katara’s turn to blush. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking that Aang somehow managed to be ridiculously endearing, even when he was admitting to a crazy publicity stunt. She barely had time to consider what exactly that meant before Toph came bursting out of Sokka’s room and the two sprang apart. Katara was surprised to see Sokka follow her out given that he hadn’t emerged from his room since the night of the prom. </p>
<p>“Let’s go, lovebirds! We’ve got another prom to plan!” Toph said. Katara exchanged a look with Sokka who just shrugged. She found herself with several follow up questions but decided to follow them anyway. If they really could throw another prom she definitely wasn’t going to be left out.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Howdy and thanks for reading!</p>
<p>This one took a little longer because I went back to work in person for the first time since March last week and boy being around people again is exhausting. And stressful... since you know, pandemic and all. </p>
<p>This will probably end up being 2 or maybe 3 more chapters so we’re coming up on the end here! :)</p>
<p>My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka was a man on a mission. He was glad to have something to focus on besides feeling sorry for himself. Like Toph had suggested, he dragged everyone to Principal Iroh’s office the next day to talk about throwing a second prom. </p><p>“It sounds like a wonderful idea,” Iroh said and the group exchanged excited looks. “However, I worry that public opinion is not on your side here. And I fear that the PTA will do everything in their power to ensure that this does not happen.” They deflated a little, of course the PTA would continue to ruin everything. </p><p>Toph spoke up. “Sokka and I talked about him going public with his side of the story. Maybe that could get us some support and interest from outside of town and make them back off?”</p><p>Iroh considered that for a moment. “It is possible. I cannot say for sure but Ozai may cave with enough public pressure. Then again, this is not a school sanctioned event so it is technically out of his jurisdiction. That does however raise another issue. The school cannot contribute financially to this second prom. Our yearly prom budget was spent already.”</p><p>“Okay, Well how much does a prom even cost?” Suki asked.</p><p>Iroh sighed. “Well, with the fee to rent out the gym, music, lights, decorations and refreshments, we could be looking at around ten thousand dollars.”</p><p>Katara’s jaw practically hit the floor. “Ten Thousand Dollars? Holy shit!”</p><p>“Don’t worry about the cost,” Toph said, pulling a small piece of plastic from her pocket, “I have it handled.”</p><p>Aang’s eyes widened. “The Beifong Black Card,” he whispered.</p><p>“Holy Shit, Toph!” Sokka said, “Won’t your parents be upset if you spend their money on this?”</p><p>She laughed, “Nah, They probably won’t even notice. And besides nothing would make me happier than spending my father’s money on the gayest prom this town has ever seen.”</p><p>Iroh chuckled a bit. “Well I guess that settles it. We’re going to do everything we can to throw this prom. Come back at the end of the week and we can hopefully come up with a more solid plan.”</p><p>They all thanked him and left the office, turning to head to their next classes. Before they could split up, Katara pulled Toph aside. </p><p>“Hey, I just want to thank you for whatever you said to Sokka yesterday to get him out of his funk. And also offering to pay for this new prom. You’re not as bad as I thought,” Katara says, awkwardly.</p><p>Toph laughed, “Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself. At the very least you’re fun to fight with.” She gave Katara a light punch on the arm. </p><p>Katara couldn't help but smile. “So things are fine, then?” The last thing she wanted was to make planning this new and improved prom any harder because of tension between herself and Toph.</p><p>“Sure, Katara,” Toph said, grinning up at her. “Now, let’s go to class before we’re late.”<br/>
___________________________________</p><p>Sokka was sleeping soundly when something startled him awake. He glanced over at the clock on his nightstand. A little past 1 AM. He laid there for a second or two, trying to figure out why he was awake when the noise came again. Something was tapping on his window. Sokka groaned and stood up to investigate. Peering outside, he found himself face to face with a familiar blue mask. </p><p>He opened the window. “Zuko? What are you doing here?”</p><p>“Sorry, I know you said you didn’t want to talk and I’m really sorry to show up like this but I know I have some things to explain so I thought I should at least try. You can tell me to leave if you want.”</p><p>Sokka considered for a moment. “Why are you wearing your Blue Spirit mask?” </p><p>Zuko finally lifted the mask. “I didn’t want to be recognized. I thought your sister might threaten to murder me again for what happened at the prom. Plus, I didn’t want my father to recognize me as I was leaving either.”</p><p>“Okay, valid, I guess.” Sokka turned around and walked back to his bed. “Are you coming in or not?”</p><p>Zuko blinked, startled, like he had expected Sokka to turn him away. He climbed in quickly and shut the window behind him. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. “Okay, um, I guess I want to say I’m sorry about what happened.”</p><p>“You guess?” Sokka scoffed.</p><p>“No, I’m sorry. I am. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t find out about it until I was already there.” </p><p>Sokka sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I know that. I believe that you weren’t a part of their plan. I do. But God, Zuko, what are we doing?”</p><p>Zuko looked confused and a little apprehensive. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“I mean,” Sokka stands and for the first time comes within an arm's length of Zuko, gesturing between the two of them. “What is this? What am I? Just an experiment for you? A way for you to piss off your Dad?”</p><p>The look on Zuko’s face had progressed to absolute devastation. “How could you even say that?”</p><p>“Do you know what it was like, standing alone in the gym, knowing that people got together to plan out the best way to hurt me? To humiliate me?”</p><p>“It must have been awful,” Zuko said.</p><p>“Yeah, no shit. But the worst part was that you didn’t come. You just let me deal with it all alone. </p><p>“I should have—“</p><p>“Yeah, you should have.” Sokka interrupted. “You’re my fucking boyfriend and I couldn’t even count on you to be there for me that night.”</p><p>Zuko sighed. “I know it probably doesn’t mean much but I really am sorry. I wish we could have gone through with the plan and I could have come out at prom.”</p><p>Sokka sat back down on the edge of his bed. “Did I push you too hard about coming out? I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was forcing you. If you weren’t ready you could have said that. I wouldn’t have been mad.”</p><p>Zuko sat on the bed as well, leaving more space between himself and Sokka than he had since they started dating. He reached out as if to touch him but let his hand drop before making contact. “No, of course not. I wanted to come out. I still want to! It’s just my father—“ </p><p>“Your father?”</p><p>“You know what he’s like! He’s not a nice person!”</p><p>Sokka let out a small, sad laugh. “Understatement of the year.”</p><p>“Exactly!” Zuko said, “Now imagine living with him! He’s ridiculously controlling and does whatever he can to mold me and Azula into perfect children. I really think he became the PTA president purely for more control over our lives. And also to make sure I wasn’t doing anything to embarrass him. My whole life nothing I have ever done has been good enough. He’s always made it very clear that Azula was his favorite and I would never be as good as her. She’s a better firebender and has better grades, she’s good at every sport she tries and she’s even the youngest ever student council president while I’m stuck being her Vice President.” Zuko stopped to take a breath before continuing. “And I know that this is all dumb high school stuff that doesn’t really matter but I know nothing will change in college or when we’re adults either. Me being gay is just another reason for my father to hate me.”</p><p>Sokka was unsure how to respond but decided to give it a try. “I’m sure he doesn’t actually hate you, right? I mean, he’s your dad.”</p><p>Zuko sighed. “Well he certainly doesn’t like me. He’s always thought I was too sensitive, too weak. Things were okay while my mom was still around but after she left things got worse. The only time I can remember him approving of anything that I did was when I was the captain of the soccer team back in middle school. And then when I was 13 he fucked up my depth perception,” He gestured to the left side of his face, “And I couldn’t play anymore.”</p><p>Sokka was shocked. Zuko never talked about his scar and if this conversation was going in the direction he thought it was going, he could see why. “Wait, what?” He asked, hoping that he misunderstood. </p><p>Zuko grimaced and turned to face Sokka. “I meant to tell you all of this sooner but it never felt like a good time. With all the sneaking around I didn’t want to waste any of the little time we had together.” </p><p>Sokka finally reached out and took Zuko’s hand in his. “Dude, don’t apologize. You totally don’t have to say any more if you don’t want to.”</p><p>Zuko looked down and their intertwined fingers and shook his head. “No, I have to do this. I need you to know.” Sokka nodded at him to go on in a way that he hoped was encouraging. “So my father owns the hotel in town which is why they were able to switch locations and have the prom there at the last minute. But you already know that, never mind.” Zuko took a second to get his thoughts back in order before continuing. “When I was 13 he decided that I should start learning how things work so that I could work for him one day. He took me to a board meeting with him with explicit instructions to just sit, listen and say nothing. But then they started talking about firing lots of the cleaning staff and cutting benefits for the rest even though the hotel had been bringing in record profits and I just couldn’t stay quiet.” </p><p>Sokka looked at him, wide-eyed. The more Zuko talked, the more he knew that he   wasn’t going to like the way this story ended. </p><p>Zuko exhaled shakily and continued. “I said something about how they couldn’t treat their employees that way, how they had families to support and this would result in the rest of them having to do more work for less pay. I can still see the look on my father’s face when he turned to the rest of the board and apologized for my behavior. I knew that things were going to get ugly, and when we got home that night, they did. He was livid. He screamed and threw things. I remember him breaking a vase that had been my mom’s favorite. He told me that I was an embarrassment and that I would be lucky if he ever forgave me for the disrespect I had shown him. I was apologizing and crying and then the last thing I remember was a handful of fire coming towards my face. I woke up in the hospital and he had already told everyone that I had accidentally burned myself while practicing firebending. I was too scared to say anything different.”</p><p>“Holy shit” Sokka breathed. He slid over and put his arms around Zuko. He buried his face in Sokka’s chest and the two just sat there for a few moments. </p><p>Eventually, Zuko took a deep breath and pulled away from Sokka. He kept talking. “At the prom, Mai and Ty Lee told me they had figured out our plan. They asked if I had forgotten what happened the last time I did something to disappoint my father in front of other people. As if I don’t have a permanent reminder of it on my fucking face. As much as I want to come out and finally feel like I can be myself, I’m still just so terrified of him. As long as I live in my father’s house, I don’t think I’ll be able to. I’m really sorry, Sokka.”</p><p>Sokka took a moment to process everything. His head was spinning with all this new information. “Don’t apologize for your father being an asshole. It’s not your fault,” He took a deep breath, considering what he knew needed to be said and whether or not he could actually say it. </p><p>Before Sokka could overthink any more he started talking again.“I’ve been thinking since that night and now, hearing all of this, I know what I have to do. I don’t think we should do this anymore.”</p><p>Zuko froze. “What?” It came out no louder than a whisper but Sokka could hear the disbelief and pain in his voice loud and clear.</p><p>“I don’t think this relationship is good for either of us right now.”</p><p>“Are you… breaking up with me?” Zuko’s voice was still small and hurt.</p><p>Sokka grimaced, “I guess I am, yeah. I know that you have romantic feelings for me, and I have feelings for you too. It's just that you don’t deserve to be in a relationship where you have to fear for your safety. And I don’t want to be responsible if something did happen with your father. I’d never forgive myself.” He paused for a moment just in case Zuko had a response. When he didn’t get one,  he kept talking. “I also think that I deserve someone that I know I can count on when things are hard. Based on what happened on Saturday, I don’t know if I can depend on you. I know it isn’t totally your fault but it still isn’t fair to me.” </p><p>He looked back towards Zuko who seemed to be avoiding making eye contact. “I’m really sorry,” Sokka offered.</p><p>Zuko was still a little frozen in place so Sokka stood up and walked out of the room to give him some space. He waited a moment before realizing something was wrong and walking back in. “Uh, this is my room so…”</p><p>“Oh, right, yeah,” Zuko said, shaking himself out of his trance. “I understand,” He stood up and walked to the window to leave the way he came. “Bye, Sokka.”</p><p>Sokka gave him a sad smile. “Bye,” He said, watching Zuko climb back through the window before shutting it behind him with a final bang. Sokka collapsed back on his bed and tried not to cry. And if he failed, there was nobody else around to know.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And fun was had by all. ;)</p><p>My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi!</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka was fine. Seriously. He absolutely wasn’t heartbroken. He definitely wasn’t stressed wondering what he should do with the information he now knew about Zuko. And he certainly wasn’t agonizing over whether or not he had done the right thing breaking up with him. </p><p>Obviously he was absolutely fine. If he wasn’t, would he be channeling all his energy into creating the greatest (and gayest) prom ever? No way! Katara could fuck off with the concerned glances because he was completely and totally fine. </p><p>He threw himself into prom planning. So what if he wouldn’t get the perfect prom night he wanted? He’d be damned if other kids wouldn’t get one either. By the time the end of the week had rolled around, he had a pretty solid prom plan to show to Principal Iroh. </p><p>When it was time for their meeting, Iroh seemed to agree. “I’m impressed,” he said, “This is very well thought out. Your plan to put the word out on social media and allow students to claim virtual tickets seems solid. And since you are inviting strangers, You have contacted friends to serve as unofficial security in case anything happens, and I am willing to contact some old friends for this purpose as well. You’ve contacted a DJ, begun to find decorations and refreshments, and filled out the application to rent out the gym for the night. Once we figure out exactly how many students we are expecting there will be other things to discuss but this is a very good start. Well done, Sokka.”</p><p>Sokka smiled as Katara and Aang grinned excitedly at him, Suki swung an arm over his shoulder, and Toph smacked his back in her violent yet friendly way. </p><p>“So, we’re really doing this?” Aang asked, looking absolutely giddy and like he could hardly believe what he was hearing.</p><p>Iroh nodded. “It certainly looks that way.”</p><p>Sokka was glad to hear it, but he knew he had something else he needed to do. “Uh, sir? Do you think we could talk in private for a moment?”</p><p>His friends exchanged looks. Sokka wasn’t sure what they were thinking, but really, it was none of their business.</p><p>“Of course, Sokka. Could the rest of you give us a moment?” Iroh stood and walked towards the door as Katara, Toph, Suki and Aang all walked back into the hallway, casting glances back at Sokka, still sitting in the chair in front of Iroh’s desk. </p><p>Iroh closed the door behind them and returned to sit in front of Sokka and again. “What is it that’s troubling you?”</p><p>Sokka took a deep breath, “So I was talking to… a friend… the other day and well,  they told me something about how their dad has hurt them in the past and I don’t really know what to do with that information but I want to make sure that they’re safe.”</p><p>Iroh sighed. “This is about Zuko, isn’t it? I had a hunch that he was the boy you were planning on bringing to the prom.”</p><p>Sokka froze. Did everyone somehow know? Damn, maybe they were really, really bad at sneaking around. Iroh seemed to know what he was feeling because he continued, “I’ve been doing this job for a while now, you’d be surprised how much I can figure out. Besides, I know Zuko very well.”</p><p>“Oh right, because he’s the Student Council Vice President,” Sokka guessed.</p><p>“...Right,” He said, looking at Sokka like he had said something odd. “Now, as for the information you shared, I assume it is related to…” He gestured vaguely towards his face and Sokka nodded. “Right, well, I have had my suspicions about Ozai for a while now. But, the man has great influence in this town and I fear that if this isn’t handled correctly, it could put Zuko in more danger.”</p><p>Sokka slumped backwards in his chair. “That’s what I was afraid of,” He groaned.</p><p>“Listen to me,” Iroh said, deadly serious, “I have been aware of this situation for several years now and I promise that I am working on finding a solution. I want you to know that you absolutely did the right thing coming to me. And having this confirmation from you does help, so thank you.”</p><p>It wasn’t exactly the answer Sokka had been hoping for, but he supposed it was better than nothing. At least now he wasn’t holding on to this big secret himself and an adult that could maybe do something about it knew what was going on. “Uh, well, that’s all I guess,” Sokka said, rising from his chair and turning to leave. When he was almost to the hallway, he turned around again, “I’ll let you know once I’ve gotten the word out how many people might be at our prom.” Iroh nodded and shut the door to his office behind Sokka.</p><p>Sokka found his friends standing in a circle outside the office. They were whispering but stopped suddenly when they saw him walk up. Ah, so they had been talking about him. Nice of them to at least try to hide it. </p><p>Suki looked him up and down as if that would tell her what he had just been talking about. “Everything okay?” She asked.</p><p>“No,” He said, “But maybe it will be eventually.”</p><p>__________________________________________</p><p>Sokka was making a YouTube video. He already had a YouTube channel, made for posting school projects and his ill-advised, middle school Minecraft vlogger phase so why not repurpose it for this? He figured a video was the only way he could get his message out to strangers online from the comfort of his own home and without having to talk to anyone. Aang could share the link on Twitter or whatever and hopefully people would pick up on his side of the story as quickly as they had Ozai’s. </p><p>He was starting to regret deciding to do this as he sat on his bed, staring uncomfortably at his phone camera which he had propped up on his bedside table. </p><p>He pressed record and waved awkwardly saying, “Hello, Sokka here.” He facepalmed. Could that be any more awkward of a greeting? He stopped the recording and deleted the video immediately. Nobody would be seeing that one, thank you very much. </p><p>Okay, Take 2. He could do this. He pressed record and started again.</p><p>By take 10 he was seriously doubting that this video would even be watchable at all.</p><p>By take 25 he was wondering how anyone could stand to hear him talk if he was this fucking awkward all the time. </p><p>By take 32… he actually didn’t totally hate take 32... </p><p>When his phone finally ran out of storage somewhere around take 48, he thought maybe, just maybe, he had enough footage to piece together something halfway decent. And so he got to work.</p><p>________________________________________</p><p>Zuko would be lying if he said he hadn’t been moping around since his last conversation with Sokka. He knew that if he wasn’t careful his father would take notice and if he figured out exactly what was causing his son’s bad mood it would be bad news for sure. </p><p>So he mostly just hid in his room, pretending to study but really just thinking about Sokka. Realistically, he knew that they needed to end things. With his fathers wrath hanging over his head, he hadn’t been able to be the boyfriend that Sokka deserved. And honestly, the stress of sneaking around, constantly terrified that his father would find out was becoming almost too much for him to handle. So, yeah, he definitely didn’t fault Sokka for making that call. Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to mope around though. </p><p>And moping was exactly what he was doing when the text from Mai came. It was odd, Mai never texted him. Even when they had briefly dated during Zuko’s last, panicked effort to be straight, she had hardly texted him at all. </p><p>He opened the message to see that it was the link to a YouTube video with no other context. He half thought he was getting rickrolled, but when he clicked the link, he found himself staring at the face of his now ex-boyfriend. Zuko couldn't help but think that he looked really, really good. Holy shit, was Sokka over him already? He was nervous but pressed play anyway.</p><p>Sokka was sitting on his bed, looking the same as he usually did. He started with a “Hello Internet, My name is Sokka,” giving an awkward wave to the camera. “You may have heard about the school that threw a fake prom to keep a student from attending with his boyfriend. Well, that was me. And I just want everyone to see what a great time I had at the prom they threw just for me!” There’s a terribly cheesy animation effect and the video of Sokka slides off the screen to show a black background with white letters that reads, Happy Prom! Another animation has that title break into pieces and fall off the screen leaving a photo of Sokka in his suit outside the gym in its place. The photos begin to come up, one after the next. The terrible decorations, the sad refreshments set up, more decorations, each appearing with an animation worse than the last. And as the pictures cycle, Sokka has chosen to add that song from the really sad dog commercials to set the mood. </p><p>Zuko’s not really sure if he should, but he can’t help but laugh a little. Leave it to Sokka to somehow make this into a joke to show the world that this whole prom mess hadn’t gotten to him. </p><p>After the last photo has come and gone, another black background comes up, this time with the words, Best Prom Ever!! And a thumbs up emoji. The song fades and suddenly Sokka’s back on the screen. “So as you can tell this ranks up there as one of the most terrible nights of my life so far. Was I expecting the prom to be some magical night? Definitely not since I do not intend to be one of those guys who peaked in high school. I just wanted to take the boy I love to the prom.”</p><p>Holy shit. He’d ever heard Sokka say he loved him before. And what a time to do it too. Zuko hoped that he hadn’t just said it to make the story more dramatic before remembering that it didn’t really matter since they were broken up and there was no guarantee that even if Sokka felt that way before he still did after everything that had happened. </p><p>On screen, Sokka kept talking, unaware of Zuko’s not-so-minor freak out. “I wasn’t trying to start some revolution, I honestly just wanted to dance with him at the prom like it was totally normal. Because it is. This is who I am and I refuse to hide that for anyone. I know I’m not the only person out there with a story like this, and I think we all deserve a nice night. Two weeks from now, we’ll be having a re-do prom at my high school. It’s short notice, but everyone is welcome. We all deserve a prom, regardless of who we love. All the information is below if you want to check it out.” Sokka gives a peace sign and a grin to the camera as the video ends. </p><p>The video was so painfully Sokka it made Zuko’s heart ache. It wasn’t the most eloquent or poetic video but it was just so him. Sokka. Who had said he loved Zuko. Holy shit. Zuko also had to appreciate that Sokka didn’t address his role in all of this, because he didn’t think he would come off well. Plus, he didn’t need all his secrets exposed to the world. Maybe Sokka did still care about him since he didn't make Zuko look like a bad guy in front of a bunch of internet strangers. Or maybe, he was already totally over Zuko and that’s why he didn't mention him very much. </p><p>And to think Zuko had thought he was finished spiraling over Sokka’s unknown feelings for him once they had gotten together. </p><p>He decided to avoid his thoughts by looking at the video’s comments which is always a dangerous game to play. The video had somewhere around three thousand views and a little over 200 comments. It also had more thumbs ups than thumbs downs which was a good sign. </p><p>Zuko found the comments to be full of people with supportive messages and people sharing their own stories. He felt a little like crying. There were people out there experiencing the same things he was. He realized that this was probably the reason Mai had sent the video to him, to make him feel a little less alone. And maybe it was the beginnings of an apology from her for what had happened on prom night. Either way, Zuko sent her a text back, thanking her for sending the video. Then he laid back on his bad and lost himself in thought about Sokka, the proms and what he could do to fix things.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>One more to go! :) </p><p>My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi!</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang had tweeted out a link to Sokka’s video and by the time the day of the prom came around it had a little over 7 million views. Sokka was oscillating between, “don’t talk to me, I’m famous,” and “so many strangers have seen me be awkward on camera I’m never leaving the house again.” </p><p>But the good news was that people seemed to actually be interested in attending their prom. Sokka had put up a link where people could claim virtual tickets and somewhere around 400 had been claimed. Now, their Prom really felt real, rather than just an idea.</p><p>It was so real that Toph had insisted on taking her Dad’s credit card for one more joy ride to get them all new outfits to wear. Sokka had tried to argue that he could just wear the same suit from the first prom since nobody had actually seen him wear it but she wouldn’t hear it.</p><p>So that’s how Sokka found himself leaving the mall with a new tuxedo. It was pretty cool if he did say so himself, it was dark blue with a floral pattern. When he had tried it on, he felt both classy and kind of wild. He figured it was a slam dunk for the gayest prom their town had ever seen. </p><p>___________________________________________</p><p>The day of the prom arrived fairly quickly, but that could have been all the work they were doing filling the time. Sokka forced everyone out of bed early in the morning so they could go to the gym and finish decorating before they had to start getting ready. They all grumbled a little at having to be up so early but then they took Appa through the drive thru to pick up coffee and the look on the employee at the window’s face made it worth it. </p><p>Principal Iroh was waiting for them in the school gym. They got to work making the gym look presentable. Using a combination of bending and ladders, Sokka, Aang and Toph got to work hanging the rest of the streamers and twinkling lights. Katara and Suki got busy setting up the sound system and testing out the recipe for the punch. They’d have to make more later but Suki figured that trying it to make sure it was good beforehand wouldn’t hurt anybody. Iroh mostly supervised.</p><p>All in all, for a bunch of kids setting up their first prom ever, it looked pretty good! </p><p>Aang came over to stand by Katara after they finished their respective jobs. She looked around at the work they had done and said, “Hey, this looks pretty good! But I feel like it’s still missing something…”</p><p>Aang looked stressed. “Oh no, what? We can’t ruin another prom for Sokka! Is it the lights? The streamers? The punch?” </p><p>She grabbed his shoulders and nudged him to face her. “No, no, the prom looks great, It’s going to be great. I just meant something is missing for me… I don’t have a date yet.”</p><p>“Oh, well anyone would be lucky to go with you! I’m sure we can find someone,” Aang offered.</p><p>Okay, so she was going to have to really spell this out for him wasn’t she... “Aang, I want you to be my date.”</p><p>“Me?’ His mouth fell open and all he could do was stare at Katara. </p><p>From across the gym, Sokka called out, “Just say yes, Aang!”</p><p>Aang smiled wider than seemed physically possible. “Okay! Let’s go to the prom together!” In a moment of courage, he leaned forward to kiss Katara on the cheek. She blushed and Toph let out a whoop which led to Suki and Sokka cheering. </p><p>The moment was ruined when Ozai threw open the gym doors and stormed in. “What the hell is this?” He roared, “Iroh, who allowed them to do this?”</p><p>Iroh maintained his composure and simply said, “This is a community space, they paid to rent the gym like anyone else.”</p><p>Ozai glared at him. “You should have run this by the PTA before you allowed it to happen.”</p><p>“I do not have to run every decision I make by you,” Iroh said, “You are not in charge here, no matter how much you would like to think otherwise.”</p><p>Steam was practically pouring from Ozai’s ears. Toph stepped forward and pointed her finger in Ozai’s face. “Look, this prom is happening and there’s nothing you can do about it!”</p><p>He grit his teeth and leaned down to get in her face. “No, you look, little girl, you have no right to come to my town and try to change the way we do things. You don’t understand how things work, you blind bitch.”</p><p>Sokka’s mouth fell open. He shouldn’t have been surprised given what he knew about Ozai but damn that seemed to cross a line. Katara made a motion to bend the punch from the bowl on the table at him but Aang put out a hand to stop her, nodding towards Toph who looked to be handling herself just fine. </p><p>Toph stomped and sent a small rock flying towards Ozai and hitting him square in the forehead. “Oh, sorry, did that hit you? I wouldn’t know. I’m blind.” She spun around and walked back towards her friends exclaiming, “Aang! I finally got to throw a rock at a homophobe!”</p><p>Ozai rubbed the dirt off of his forehead and stalked towards the group. “You might think that you are tough but I will not allow you to expose the children in this town to this inappropriate and disgusting behavior just because this boy chooses to be gay.“</p><p>At that moment, Zuko chose to burst through the gym doors shouting, “Stop! Just stop!”</p><p>The way that Sokka gasped and perked up at the sight of a boy he wasn’t even dating anymore was a little sad. </p><p>Zuko stopped in front of his father. “I’m done listening to you say bullshit like this all the time!”</p><p>Ozai glared at his son. “You’d better watch your tone and remember who you are speaking to, boy,” he growled.</p><p>“No,” he said, “I’m done taking orders from you. I’m going to finally speak my mind. So, here it goes…” He took a deep breath and turned around to look at his ex-boyfriend. </p><p>“I love you, Sokka.”</p><p>“Holy Shit!” Sokka exclaims, and then slaps a hand over his mouth, either in shock or to shut himself up, he’s not entirely sure. There are gasps from his friends but Sokka can’t do anything but stare at Zuko. </p><p>“What did you just say?” Ozai asked, his voice dangerous. </p><p>Zuko stood his ground. “I love him. I’m gay.” </p><p>The look on his father’s face is one he’s only seen once before, and the last time did not turn out well for him. But this time, as Zuko looks at him, he isn’t scared. His father is a terrible person and he’s done letting him rule his life. </p><p>Suddenly, Ozai’s hands were on fire as he walked towards Zuko. “How dare you—“</p><p>This time, Katara did bend the liquid out of the punch bowl. She’s backed up by Toph, Aang and Suki, all ready to absolutely destroy him. “Don’t you dare take another step,” She says, then douses him in punch. Ozai whirls towards her, ready for a fight. </p><p>Iroh steps in between them. “That’s quite enough,” he says, “I cannot allow you to attack these children any longer. I believe the two of us need to have the conversation I have been anticipating for some time now. Come with me.”</p><p>Ozai doesn’t move and continues to glare in the direction of Katara. She glares right back, begging him to make a move so she can commit a little bit of a murder. </p><p>“That was not a request,” Iroh says, grabbing Ozai’s arm and marching him out of the gym like a scolded schoolboy. </p><p>With his father gone, Zuko sheepishly walks over to Sokka, keeping a respectful distance in case he doesn't want to talk to him. </p><p>“Do you know what you just did?” Sokka asks, still reeling a little from Zuko’s confession.</p><p>Zuko grins. “I think I just came out to my father.”</p><p>“But… How?” Sokka looks at him, awestruck. His look changes to something a little more nervous. “Wait, you didn’t do this because of me, did you?”</p><p>‘Well sort of,” Zuko says, “Not because I expect you to take me back or anything, I totally get if you don’t want that. But after you told Uncle Iroh about what was going on, he approached me and offered to let me stay with him indefinitely.”</p><p>Sokka’s mouth falls open. “Uncle… Iroh. Principal Iroh is your uncle?”</p><p>Zuko looks a little embarrassed. “Um yeah. We tried to keep that under wraps so nobody could accuse him of favoritism or whatever. But once he had the confirmation from you, he decided that he had enough to finally confront my father. Not that he has real evidence to do anything legally but he seemed to think that he could get my father to agree to make him my guardian until I turn 18. And after he tried to attack Katara just now I wouldn’t be surprised if he threatens to remove him from the PTA too.” </p><p>Sokka couldn’t help but smile. “So, are you free tonight?”</p><p>“What?” Zuko’s brow furrowed in confusion.</p><p>“I still need a date to the prom…” He winked at Zuko.</p><p>“Even after everything that happened?”</p><p>Sokka grabbed his hand, “Zuko, none of that was your fault, it was a shitty situation. But if you really don’t have to worry about your father anymore I’d love to give this whole prom thing another try.”</p><p>“Okay,” Zuko said, giving Sokka a small smile, “I’d love to go to prom with you. For real this time.”</p><p>“I’ve really missed you. Wanna kiss and make up?” Sokka asked.</p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes. “You’re such an idiot,” he said, not giving Sokka a chance to reply before he was pulling him in for a kiss. </p><p>Toph whooped again and Sokka flipped her off behind his back without pulling away from Zuko. Toph cackled so evidently she got the message. </p><p>It looked like all the pieces of the perfect prom were falling into place.<br/>
_______________________________________</p><p>Sokka was a little nervous. Sure, Zuko had promised that this time he would be there, but considering their history with proms, Sokka couldn't help but be a little worried. They had gone their separate ways to go get pretty for the prom, Sokka back at Gran Gran’s and Zuko back at Iroh’s. They had planned to meet up back at the gym when the prom started. So Zuko wasn’t even technically late yet but Sokka was still antsy. </p><p>He stared at the gym doors, watching strangers walk in and waiting for the one person he wanted to see. He’d be lying though if he said it didn’t make him feel a little less nervous seeing boys walk in hand in hand with other boys, and girls walking in with girls. People walking in with groups of friends or by themselves lots of whom probably would have looked and felt out of place at the first prom a few weeks ago. Sokka loved it, this was what he had hoped for and more. </p><p>The next person that walked in the door was Zuko. Sokka’s vision tunneled because suddenly Zuko was all that he could see. He had on a maroon tux which looked really, really good and his hair had been slicked back. Honestly the hair looked kind of stupid and almost ruined the look. As soon as Zuko walked over Sokka messed it up.</p><p>Zuko swatted his hand away. “Knock it off! My uncle did my hair!” </p><p>“And no offense to him but it looked terrible,” Sokka said, taking his hand, “I’m glad you came.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t have missed it. Not for a second time.” </p><p>Sokka and Zuko were so lost in their own little moment, they almost missed Mai and Ty Lee walking in hand in hand. </p><p>Almost. </p><p>Zuko looked towards the door at just the right moment and made eye contact with Mai. His shock must have been pretty obvious because Ty Lee giggled and waved. </p><p>Sokka looked up as well to see what Zuko was looking at. “Well this is a new development,” He said.</p><p>Ty Lee smiled, “No, we’ve been dating almost a year now.”</p><p>“Some of us just weren’t dumb enough to tell Azula who we were bringing to the prom,” Mai said.</p><p>Sokka looked a little embarassed. “Yeah, that’s fair,” he mumbled. “But if I hadn’t told Azula then we wouldn’t all be here right now so you’re welcome.” </p><p>Zuko rolled his eyes fondly, “Sure, Sokka” </p><p>Sokka looked over and saw Aang and Katara dancing together. Toph was over by the punch bowl talking to some girl she had evidently met and Suki was over on the bleachers talking to one of the girls from the wrestling team. The road to get to this point had definitely been rough, but Sokka didn’t think he would change any of it. He was here with all his friends, finally getting to take his boyfriend to the prom. </p><p>He turned to Zuko and offered him a hand. “May I have this dance?”</p><p>“I thought you’d never ask,” Zuko said, placing his hand into Sokka’s.</p><p>As they swayed together in the school gym, Sokka couldn't help but think that as far as high school proms go, this one was pretty perfect.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that’s the end :)</p><p>Thanks for reading this nonsense I decided to create combining one of my favorite musicals and one of my favorite TV shows. </p><p>If you’re in the mood for more nonsense check out my new fic <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29584362/chapters/72714192">HERE</a> for some fun with Zuko and Sokka in New York City :) (also stay tuned for possibly some more musical aus in the future!)</p><p>And if ya haven’t already, check out my pal Sydney’s Zukka fic based on the book Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29409501/chapters/72249705">HERE</a> because I’m very excited about it!! (also because none of my fics would exist without her!)</p><p>And last but not least, My tumblr is <a href="https://ohlook-somethingshiny.tumblr.com/">HERE</a> if you want to come say hi!</p><p>A million thanks for reading the first fanfic I’ve ever completed! :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello and welcome to my first fic since like 2014!</p><p>Shout out to Sydney who instigated this and also came up with the title. You’re thebomb.com</p><p>Until Next time,</p><p>Mal</p></blockquote></div></div>
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